Earlier this week we saw Dayton Dragons starting pitcher Joe Boyle named as the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week after he threw 6.0 hitless innings in his start against West Michigan. That just capped off his month of May and the it led to him being named as the Midwest League Pitcher of the Month.
After a dominant April that only had three starts in it, Joe Boyle kicked off May with 4.0 shutout innings against Lake County where he struck out six and walked three. The next time out he threw 4.2 hitless innings, but did walk six batters and allowed a run while striking out seven. On May 17th he returned to take on Quad Cities in Dayton and allowed a run on three hits and two walks while striking out eight batters in 6.0 innings. His 6.0 hitless innings against West Michigan followed on the 24th. On the final day of the month he allowed his first home run of the season and it accounted for the only run he allowed in 4.0 innings against South Bend.
All of that added up to five starts that covered 24.2 innings with a 1.09 ERA. The right-handed starter allowed just eight hits – including one double and one home run – but did walk 17 batters while striking out 34 of the 96 hitters he faced off against during the month. Opponents hit just .101/.260/.152 against him, going 8-79. That was better than the .026 they hit against him in April, though he only faced 49 batters over his first three starts of the season.
The walks continue to be a concern for Boyle, but when he’s finding the strikezone he’s been nearly unhittable this season. He’s now made eight starts and has allowed nine hits in 37.2 innings, posted a 0.72 ERA, held batters to a .077/.255/.111 line, walked 27 of the 145 batters he’s faced, and racked up 56 strikeouts.