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BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2010		Byrd opted not to sign with a team following the 2008 season, preferring instead to sell himself as a mid-season reinforcement after spending a rare spring with his family. He finally hooked on with the Red Sox in August, made four preparatory starts in the minors in which he walked one man in 18 innings, then returned to the majors with six shutout innings against the Blue Jays on August 30. That was as good as it got; Byrd posted a 7.07 ERA in September and was dropped from the rotation in the last week of the season. Byrd is a fly-ball pitcher who can’t strike anyone out and whose offerings are raw meat for hungry lefties. He thought about retiring during his extended offseason last year, and AL batters gave him further cause over this winter.
2009		Byrd's ERA in 2008 may be almost identical to that of 2007, but looking a little deeper suggests that the 13-year vet may be on the way out. His home-run rate, already higher than was safe given his pitch-to-contact style, increased further, and his BABIP was lower than it should have been, a blessing in the present that could haunt Byrd in the future. Lefties tomahawked him at a .317/.361/.529 clip, and he survived by holding right handers to a .283 OBP, but everybody hit him hard: left-handers had a isolated power of .212, righties .169, and his overall ISO of .191 ranked ninth in the majors (150 innings and up division). Heading into his age-38 season, the most to be hoped for is that Byrd continues to crank out innings at modest cost and doesn't decline any further from his already precarious position.
2008		It's a pretty simple formula for Byrd: don't walk anybody and get some help from the defense. That gets him a little success here and there, and nothing more is really expected of him. The Indians picked up his 2008 option for $8 million, and in today's market, that might be a bargain for a guy who reliably gives you six innings (which he did in 23 of 31 starts last year) and keeps the team in the ball game.
2007		The Indians couldn`t have expected more than a solid innings eater when they signed Byrd to a two-year, $14.25-million contract last December, but he failed to live up to even that modest standard in the first year of his deal. Byrd always gave up a lot of hits, but his pinpoint control typically made up for it. That worked when opposing batters hit .270 or so against him, but proved to be more difficult when they hit .308, as in 2006. It`s hard to figure out what`s a fluke season and what`s an actual downturn with these Bob Tewksbury types; Byrd allowed a goodly number of line drives in 2006, but the Indians defense didn`t do him any favors. He should get closer to a league-average ERA in 2007, but another 2005 seems unlikely.
2006		Having signed with the Indians, Byrd will don his fifth uniform since 2001. Byrd will travel for work, but his arm has historically refused to accompany him. This has made him an option that teams prefer to rent rather than buy. Byrd has great control; he hasn`t averaged two walks per nine since 2001. As a pitcher who allows a lot of balls in play, he made a good call by moving to a team with a solid defense. The Indians` two-year deal with a club option for a third season gives him, at 35, the best job security he`s ever had. Seven million per year seems to have become the going rate for good non-aces, but Byrd is, to put it in poker terms, a decent value bet, at best.
2005		This was supposed to be his "lost" year, right? Despite coming off reconstructive elbow surgery, Byrd posted a K/BB ratio of better than 4.0 in 19 starts. He's always had homer proclivities, but if the strides he's made in terms of command are genuine, he'll get by. A nifty addition to the Angels' rotation in 2005.
2004		In the aftermath of serious injury, it is often a pitcher's command, not his velocity, that is last to recover. If that's the case ere, then Byrd could be in some serious trouble; Paul Byrd without his command is a batting practice pitcher. The offseason reports on his health were not promising, pegging his return for mid-season at the earliest.
2003		The Steve Carlton comparisons were a little absurd, but Byrd did become the first pitcher to win 17 games for a 100-loss team since Ned Garver of the 1951 Browns. Byrd’s success was strictly of the chuck-and-duck variety; he almost became the first American League pitcher ever to surrender more home runs (36) than walks (38). As it was, Rick Reed, with 32 home runs and 26 walks, got there first. He was extremely hit-lucky, giving up 33 fewer hits than expected, and regardless of how much success he finds under Leo Mazzone, he was unlikely to approach his 2002 performance again in a Royals’ uniform. With an extra first round draft pick and all the money earmarked for Byrd tucked away, the Royals won’t miss him nearly as much as they think they will.
2002		Byrd had a good run after coming over from the Phillies, claiming it was because of a screwball he'd added. He did make 11 good starts in his first 12 with the Royals, but his shoulder couldn't handle the success, and he was shut down in early September. Screwball or no, he's horrid against left-handed batters. All things considered, he can probably be a good reliever.
2001		His hunched-over, herky-jerky motion and some appearances out of the bullpen between starts finally caught up to Paul Byrd as his shoulder fell apart. The Phillies yanked him from the 40-man roster, which certainly indicates they don’t expect him back. Look for him to resurface as a reliever.
2000		He’s not as good as he looked before the All-Star break, but he should be a solid bottom-of-the-rotation pitcher if he’s handled properly. Like the entire rotation, he was overworked early in the season and wore out by mid-August.
1999		So Terry Francona keeps claiming that you "can't find a 20-game winner" on waivers, which is only true if your offense is incapable of creating a 20-game winner. Byrd may not be an ace, but he is and has always been a capable pitcher who can be a #4 starter for the Phils next year. They can use one of those. Terry: You'd be amazed what you can find on waivers. Just ask Omar Daal.
1998		Byrd’s peripheral stats were considerably better than his ERA would indicate. That number was spoiled by a handful of particularly dreadful outings. He was acquired for Greg McMichael in a cost-cutting move, and was pretty much the same pitcher he was in 1996. Perceived as a major league reliever now, he’ll bounce around as staff filler for a while. Minimal upside.
1997		His fastball is his only good pitch, so the Mets tried to convert him to relief in 1995 (he wasn’t exactly tearing through the league as a starter, so why not?) It worked in 1995, but not quite so good this year. Traded to Atlanta.
1996		Byrd made steady progress through the Indians' system before being acquired by the Mets in the Dave Mlicki/Jeromy Burnitz deal. He had an excellent year at Norfolk and did well in a late-season audition in New York, which may have won him a job in the Mets' bullpen for 1996. He certainly deserves the opportunity.

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PITCHf/x Pitcher Profile

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC

Although he has not thrown an MLB pitch in 2024, Paul Byrd threw 4,236 pitches that were tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2007 and 2009, including pitches thrown in . In 2009, he relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (86mph) and Slider (80mph), also mixing in a Change (80mph) and Curve (75mph). He also rarely threw a Sinker (86mph).