Kansas City Royals delaying the inevitable with Blaine Boyer
By David Hill
The Kansas City Royals decision to place reliever Blaine Boyer on the disabled list is just a matter of delaying the inevitable.
To say that Kansas City Royals reliever Blaine Boyer is struggling would be an understatement. The once solid middle reliever has been a disaster thus far in his Royals tenure, posting a horrendous 11.76 ERA and a 2.081 WHiP. His typically decent command has deserted him, as Boyer has issued 12 walks, with just nine strikeouts, in his 20.2 innings. It has been quite the rough season.
Given his struggles, it would not be a surprise to find that Boyer is nursing an injury. The Royals made certain of that on Wednesday, placing the reliever on the disabled list with a strained back. In his place, Trevor Oaks has been brought back up from Omaha.
Blaine Boyer (back strain) to the DL. Trevor Oaks is back up.
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) May 30, 2018
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In theory, this will give Boyer a chance to step away from the game for a bit, get healthy, and get himself ready to contribute for the rest of the season. Depending on how long he is on the disabled list, he may head down to Omaha himself, seeking to get right before returning to the Royals bullpen. At least, that would be the theoretical case.
In reality, this trip to the disabled list is only delaying the inevitable. Boyer has been a disaster on the mound, with his 31 runs accounting for 29.5% of the runs given up for the bullpen heading into Wednesday’s action. Even a middling performance that replicates his lifetime 4.53 ERA would have made a tremendous impact upon the Royals hopes this season.
That is not to say that Boyer has not been useful this season. In fact, he had one of the bigger saves in Royals history, taking the wheel of the team bus when a chunk of ice hit the windshield, leaving the driver injured and covered in glass. Boyer definitely had his moments, but his performance on the mound has to be taken into consideration.
Kansas City Royals fans will certaily thank Blaine Boyer for his actions back in April when he took the wheel of the team bus and steered the Royals to safety. But that moment should not allow for Boyer to get back on a major league mound in Kansas City.