It will probably be a while before we get a chance to see another season like the one that Joe Boyle just put up. While there were a few contenders for this award, at the end of the day it is Boyle that gets the nod in my eyes.
In his first start of the season Joe Boyle threw 4.0 hitless innings with seven strikeouts. The next time out he threw 4.0 hitless innings with 10 strikeouts. In his final start of April he allowed one hit and struck out five, but also walked five. Three starts, one hit, 22 strikeouts, but also 10 walks in 14.0 innings. That month set the tone for much of what his season would look like.
There were a lot of walks on the year. But there were few hits, few runs, few home runs, and a ton of strikeouts. When the month of July began, Boyle had not allowed more than one earned run in any of his 12 starts. Things slowed down a bit after that, and also included being promoted from High-A Dayton where he made his first 17 starts of the year to Double-A Chattanooga where he would make his final six appearances.
Between his two stops he would post a 2.86 ERA in 23 games that covered 100.2 innings pitched. In those 100.2 innings he allowed just 46 hits and just six home runs. While it’s likely we will see someone else match that limited home run rate, it’s probably going to be a while until we see another starting pitcher limit hits like Boyle did in 2022. He did walk 84 batters, which is far more than you want to see and is something that he will have to improve on if he’s going to become an effective pitcher in any kind of role in the big leagues, but for the 2022 season he was able to get by with it due to the fact that hitters simply couldn’t make contact against him – he had 153 strikeouts – and when they did they didn’t manage to do much.
In 419 plate appearances against the big right-handed starter, opposing batters managed a .141/.321/.209 line. They hit four doubles, no triples, and six home runs on the season. Boyle dominated against both lefties and righties as they managed a .539 and a .517 OPS against him with both groups having two doubles and three home runs.
The dominance that Joe Boyle showcased in 2022 wasn’t done in a typical fashion. But it was effective in terms of keeping the opponents from scoring runs and that’s what matters.