Menu
Goin' to Kansas City: El Do's Boyd drafted by Royals
El Dorado Springs native Riley Boyd experienced a dream-come-true Wednesday evening when the Kansas City Royals selected the electric hurler in the 28th round of the Major League Baseball draft.
"I put in a lot of hard work," Boyd told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview Thursday. "I was pretty overwhelmed with emotions, seeing my hard work pay off," he said, adding that he received an outpouring of support from family and friends after being drafted.
Boyd had a pair of pre-draft auditions in late-May with the St. Louis Cardinals, his favorite MLB team, and the Atlanta Braves.
After strong workouts with both clubs, Boyd said he felt confident he would be selected by either the Cards or Braves, and anticipated coming off the board higher than the 28th round.
"Just to be chosen for the workout is an accomplishment in itself," Boyd said, adding that he threw a bullpen session for each team. "I thought I did what I needed to do to show my skills in the right setting."
Back home in El Do Boyd was closely monitoring the three-day draft (June 3-5), and was able to celebrate the moment with his mother when his name was called. Boyd said he received a call from Royals' Midwest-region area scout Scott Melvin confirming the life-changing news. Melvin was familiar with Boyd, having scouted him on numerous occasions in the St. Louis area over the past two years.
"The draft is pretty crazy," explained Boyd. "I really had no idea where I would go, but thought it would be earlier than that."
Boyd, a right-handed pitcher, possesses a potent-four-pitch repertoire, featuring two and four-seam fastballs, a slider, and change-up. Boyd's bread-and-butter pitch is his fastball, consistently clocked at 91-93 on the radar gun, and topping out at 95. The highly-regarded publication Baseball America noted that Boyd is a "good athlete with arm-speed."
"All of my pitches are pretty effective for me," Boyd said.
Boyd graduated from El Dorado Springs High in 2017, and has spent the past two seasons at the junior college level with Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Missouri, including a berth in the JUCO World Series his freshman campaign.
"It's so hard to get there," Boyd said. "To go at least once during my junior college career is something to be proud of."
This past season with Jefferson College Boyd posted a 6-4 record and 4.24 ERA, while accumulating an impressive 75 strikeouts across 57 1/3 innings of work.
Boyd is now committed to the NCAA Division I Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, of Conference USA.
A big decision looms for Boyd, as the local product must now decide whether to remain in school with WKU or sign with the Royals by the early-July signing deadline.
Boyd has yet to sign with an agent, keeping his college eligibility intact, but indicated he has an advisor.
"We're negotiating (a deal) right now," Boyd said. "I don't know if I'll sign or not. It depends on how much money they give," adding that he would likely decline any offer that falls short of a minimum salary he has set and return to school.
Boyd said WKU still remains an attractive option, as he will receive a full-ride scholarship, plus additional scholarship money. WKU also wants to see Boyd on campus, with the coaching staff having already made their best post-draft recruiting pitch to keep him in the fold.
"That's just unbelievable in itself, to get a division one offer like that," Boyd said.
"It's a nice community, they're really into sports there, and it feels like family," he said of his college locale in Bowling Green, Kentucky. "Great facilities, great coaches, great conference. It's a good mixture of things."
The 6-foot-3, 200 pound Boyd added that his original blueprint was to first play at the D1 level, then get drafted.
"Conference USA is one of the toughest conference's in the country," noted Boyd.
Boyd discussed his prep career at EL Dorado Springs High School.
"We didn't really win anything big," he said. "It's just the fact that I had a great career, and hold the (school) record for strikeouts. A lot of my teammates in high school I grew up playing with, so it was just fun being around childhood friends, and enjoying the moment."
Added Boyd: "I dominated pretty much at the high school level, but that's what was expected of me if I was going to play college baseball. So it was just fun overall."
Boyd previously pitched at Lyons Stadium against the Griffons in the summer of 2017 as a member of the summer-league traveling team Midwest Nationals.
"You can't replace hard work, that's what will get you to the next level," Boyd said, of the advice he would give aspiring local youth. You can't shy away from it, you have to work hard if you want to get to where you want to go. I'm a firm believer, because I'm living it, that you can do whatever you want if you work hard."
Boyd said "consistency" is the key to his future success.
"Baseball is a (challenging) game, and it's hard to play at the highest level at a consistent rate," he said. "It's just something you have to learn as you go. The game doesn't change, you just have to learn to adapt to it."
Said Boyd: " A lot of people don't understand how hard it is to get drafted. There's 150,000 draft-eligible players, and to be drafted in the 28th-round is unbelievable."
Boyd, whose favorite MLB player is Washington Nationals ace "Mad" Max Scherzer, is part of a Royals' draft class that features No. 2 overall pick shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., widely considered the top prep player in America.