New Hampshire Fisher Cats right-hander Leon Boyd prior to June 19th action at MerchantsAuto.com Stadium. This was his first action back with New Hampshire after being called up from Dunedin. Unfortunately, Boyd gave up three runs on three hits and three walks while striking out two in two-thirds of an inning. He took the loss in a 4-2 setback against the Erie SeaWolves.
Being clutch for the Dutch at the 2009 World Baseball Classic led to Leon Boyd's introduction to minor professional baseball on American soil. The 6-foot-6, 210 pound right-hander was 1-0 with a save and a 2.25 ERA as the Dutch closer to help eliminate the Dominican Republic from the tournament. That earned the 26 year-old a minor league contract with the Blue Jays.
Boyd was not drafted after playing college ball at Treasure Valley Community College in Oregon, Seminole State College in Oklahoma and Armstrong Atlantic State University in Georgia. Because his mother was born in Holland and had met his hockey-playing father there in the 1970's, Boyd got a Dutch passport and was able to continue his baseball career in that country after spending one year in Belgium. He struck out 156 batters in 96 innings of work while going 11-1 with an 0.84 earned run average with Hoboken in 2006. He would join the Dutch national team during the International Cup tournament and went 0-2 with a 2.63 ERA.
The 2007 season saw Boyd join Neptunus in the Dutch national league and he was a perfect 9-0 with a 1.22 ERA. He also made his mark in tournament play that season by winning the best pitcher award in the World Port Tournament. The highlight there was a complete game shutout against Chinese Taipei in which he faced only one hitter over the minimum. Boyd also helped the Netherlands win gold at the European Championship. The 2008 season featured a no-hitter against Amsterdam as Boyd won 10 of 12 decisions with a 1.64 ERA for Hoofdklasse. Off the field, Boyd married American softball player Jeana Short.
In 2009, Boyd made a splash with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats by picking up saves in his first two appearances. He finished April with a 2.57 ERA but it shot up to 9.53 in May and 17.18 in June. He made eight appearances with Single-A Dunedin where he went 0-1 with a 1.54 ERA with a 13-6 strikeout-walk total in 11 2/3 innings. His New Hampshire totals included a 1-5 mark with a 5.47 ERA and a 38-43 K-BB total in 52 2/3 innings. The sidearmer throws sinker at 87 miles per hour along with a 75 MPH slider according to The Hardball Times.
Boyd is now hoping for a bigger and better 2010 and looks to join fellow Vancouver-area native Scott Richmond on the Jays big league roster in the near future. You can follow Boyd's progress through his CanaDutch blog.
