NEW YORK — Although the date hasn’t been fully locked in, Matthew Boyd’s next start will be for the Chicago Cubs.
Boyd threw a bullpen session Monday at Citi Field and continued to feel good after his rehab start for High-A South Bend on Saturday.
He was originally on track to return from the meniscectomy in his left knee roughly 10 days ago in San Francisco when left shoulder soreness popped up after he threw a bullpen June 9 in Denver. That required the Cubs to back off on the 35-year-old and have him make another rehab start over the weekend.
Boyd is lined up for Thursday’s series finale against the New York Mets, but manager Craig Counsell didn’t want to commit to that quite yet while waiting to see whether Monday’s game would be played or postponed because of rain. It ultimately was postponed and will be made up as a split doubleheader Wednesday.
“You always want to compete, you always want to be out there, but you also have to trust in the timing that is laid out in front of you,” Boyd said Monday. “And my job is to pitch and be on the field and compete, but you learn to make the most of the time when that opportunity isn’t available. So when that time does come around, you can be ready to help the team to the best ability you can.”
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Counsell touted the importance of Boyd recovering the right way over the last week after what happened following his June 6 rehab start for Triple-A Iowa and subsequent bullpen when the shoulder soreness occurred. That box was checked, which Counsell considered to be the most important thing leading up to his impending return.
Boyd has been limited to five starts and 24 innings with the Cubs this season because of the meniscus surgery and the biceps strain he suffered in early April.
“Look, we’ve got to get Matt out there consistently,” Counsell said Monday. “That’s when we’re going to get the true (sense of) what’s going on. He’s had a number of ailments, but we’ve got to get him out there regularly on a schedule. … So in my eyes, until we get two to three times through (the rotation) with him, that’s where we get back into the routine of the season.”
Boyd’s shoulder soreness prompted the Cubs to dig deeper, and they found elements within his delivery that were different from various points of the 2025 season. Among the differences: his arm height. Boyd explained that his arm was “flipping up” a little earlier in his delivery than in the past.
“We made some little mechanical adjustments and I’m sure that that cleared up (the soreness), so I’m grateful for that,” Boyd said. “How the mechanics are working and all that, in relation to where I was two weeks prior and coming out of that last (rehab) start, it couldn’t have been better.”
Pete Crow-Armstrong honored again
For the second time this month, Major League Baseball has recognized center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong’s hot stretch.
Crow-Armstrong was named National League Player of the Week on Monday after another stellar week at the plate. He also earned the honor June 8, which was the first of his career. Crow-Armstrong became the first Cubs player to win multiple Player of the Week awards in a single month since Derrek Lee in May 2005.
The 24-year-old hit .550 (11-for-20) with four home runs, seven RBIs, one double, one triple, four walks, five runs scored, two stolen bases, a 1.300 slugging percentage and a .600 on-base percentage in five games last week.
When asked what has stood out about Crow-Armstrong’s at-bats recently, beyond his results, Counsell replied with a grin: “Mostly the results. I love results.”
Counsell expanded his perspective, though, specifically calling attention to Crow-Armstrong’s at-bat in the eighth inning Saturday against Blue Jays lefty reliever Mason Fluharty.
Crow-Armstrong recovered from falling behind 0-2 in the count by not chasing Fluharty’s two sweepers down in the dirt, then fought off an inside cutter that he fisted the other way for a single to load the bases with nobody out.
“Sometimes you have to give up something in an at-bat,” Counsell said. “Like, you get to two strikes and you’ve got to give up something, probably driving a baseball on some of the pitches. But it allows you to make good swing decisions, and you’re good enough to get enough on a baseball to get a base hit.
“That’s what high-level hitting is to me sometimes, and I thought that was a good example of it.”
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Cubs not faring well in All-Star voting
The Cubs’ offensive struggles over the last six weeks haven’t helped them gain support from fans voting for the All-Star Game.
MLB released its latest voting tallies before the first phase of voting for All-Star starters ends Thursday, when the top two at each position and top six outfielders in each league will be revealed and advance to Phase 2 voting.
Third baseman Alex Bregman, catcher Carson Kelly and designated hitter Moisés Ballesteros — who’s currently at Triple A — are the highest-ranked Cubs at their positions, each sitting in seventh. First baseman Michael Busch (eighth), shortstop Dansby Swanson (eighth) and second baseman Nico Hoerner (10th) are also in the top 10.
After being voted in as an NL starter last year, Crow-Armstrong is only 14th among the league’s outfielders, while Seiya Suzuki is 16th.
All-Star starters and rosters will be announced at 6:30 p.m. July 4 for the July 14 game in Philadelphia.