Boyd didn’t walk a batter on the day and is now sporting a 2.78 ERA on the season. The left-hander ate the Mets up with his slider and changeup and posted a 30 percent whiff rate and 30 percent CSW on the day. He needs to be rostered in 100 percent of leagues for his start next week against the White Sox.

Boyd coughed up a two-run homer to Luis Matos in the fourth inning, which represented all of the damage against him in this one. He got nine runs of support from Chicago’s offense by the middle innings and was able to cruise to a relatively easy win. He finished with seven strikeouts and didn’t issue any walks. The 34-year-old has easily surpassed expectations this season in his Cubs debut, allowing three earned runs or fewer in each of his seven starts. He’ll carry a strong 2.75 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 37/13 K/BB ratio across 39 1/3 innings into a road matchup on Sunday against the Mets.

Boyd rode his changeup to a solid start here. The Pirates packed their lineup with eight right-handed batters against the lefty Boyd and he responded by consistently dotting that changeup. It regularly fell down just below the zone and forced plenty of weak swings on pitches that were out of reach. In all, it earned six swings-and-misses and got him out of a few jams. He now has a 2.70 ERA in what was a solid first month of the season. He’s set for a two-start week coming up against the Giants and Mets.

This was a true old-school start by Boyd. The Dodgers were on him for most of this start with 12 hard-hit balls and two home runs, but Craig Counsell left him out there for six innings despite the constant damage being done. He even faced Shohei Ohtani for a fourth time, which is completely unheard of. While half of his runs were unearned, Boyd himself made the error that kindly took them off his ledger. Still, seeing Boyd trusted to give volume bodes well for his fantasy value. He’s scheduled to face the struggling Pirates in his next start.