Boyer Confident in Recovery of Sore Shoulder

Blaine Boyer has been sidelined with a sore right shoulder that has been bothering him for a good amount of time, but his progress is certainly encouraging for himself, the Padres organization and the fans. Boyer himself has been happy with the progress he has made, and envisions himself returning to pitching for the Padres fairly soon in time to finish out the rest of the season with the team.

Though despite the piece of good news the Padres received on the Boyer front, he along with fellow relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit, also sidelined with a sore shoulder , were not available to pitch in the series opening game against the Dodgers according to manager Bud Black. Benoit has been unavailable since the 26th of August, while Boyer has been further down the road to full recovery as he got in and pitched last Thursday.

This can be  a simple case of an organization in the Padres that wants to take their time in bringing both of these pitchers  back and making absolutely sure they can pitch and perform with no lingering soreness. Their is no sense in rushing either player back to the bullpen as the team is not in contention for a playoff berth this season, and are in evaluation mode to see who can be a part of this team next season. Both Benoit and Boyer would be silly to rush their rehabilitation and comeback not at 100% full strength. They are smart enough to know that if they play out the rehab programs and perform well once they comeback, no question they will be a part of the Padres’ plans moving into next season for the bullpen.

Boyer has a very reliable and consistent performer out of the San Diego bullpen this season. Through 29 appearances, the right-hander has posted a respectable 3.05 ERA with a 29/8 strikeouts to walks ratio in 38 1/3 innings pitched. This season has been a great welcome back to Boyer, who walked away from the game of baseball altogether back in 2011 to spend more time with his family. He has gone above and beyond what the Padres were expecting him to do this season, especially coming off such a long layoff of no baseball. He adapted to his role in the bullpen quickly, and has since thrived and been a tremendous help for that group overall.

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There is that old saying that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks, that certainly would not apply to Boyer as he sharpened and improved his overall arsenal of pitches. He specifically has added a curve ball that has shown to fool hitters enough that it can be mixed in with his slider and cutter to keep opponents on their heels and get the outs he needs.

Though Boyer is now further along in his career, he has been willing and able to change his ways as a pitcher, and find success at an age that most players, especially as relief pitchers usually start to experience a downturn in performance. Who knows what the future holds for the 33-year-old, but you can count on him giving it his all to make a positive impact on his team.