The way Boyd tells it, he and his housemates at Oregon State University had converted their last 15 or so undecided baseball recruits into commits.
Kelly chose Oregon.
“We were pretty good at sealing the deal,” Boyd lamented. “It didn’t work with Carson, though.”
The point was somewhat moot – although that doesn’t stop Boyd from giving Kelly a hard time about it. The Cardinals selected Kelly in the second round of the 2012 draft. He went pro instead of attending either of the then-Pac-12 rivals. But the pitcher and catcher’s connection can be traced back to that college visit.
In the Cubs’ series opener against the Phillies on Monday, Kelly caught Boyd’s six innings as the left-hander limited Philadelphia to two runs.
The traits Kelly still appreciates in Boyd were evident even in their initial meeting. Boyd showed Kelly around OSU, exhibiting a genuine interest in him – where he went to high school, if he had siblings.
“Really, he took the time,” Kelly said. “And that’s what I love about him and his personality, is he gives you the time of day. It’s not just small talk. He actually pays attention to who you are as a person and wants to get to know you. And he had that in college.”
Besides the house’s strong track record, it was natural that Boyd and company would host Kelly because he’d gone to Westview High school in the Portland area with one of the housemates, Zack Reser. The house next door was also full of baseball players, Boyd said, including now-Dodgers outfielder Michael Conforto, so it was a group effort.
“Obviously he was a super talented recruit,” Boyd said of Kelly. “So it was a big deal that he was there.”
Kelly said choosing between Oregon State and Oregon was “really hard.”
“Apparently it wasn’t a good enough time, though, because he chose Oregon,” said Boyd, feigning irritation.
After being drafted, however, Kelly took online classes to got his degree in economics from Oregon State.
“He finally came back around the end,” Boyd said.
It took Kelly about five years to complete his degree, he said, adjusting his credits each quarter based on whether or not it was baseball season. He remembers doing coursework on buses in the minors. Later, former Cardinals manager Mike Matheny helped edit Kelly’s papers.
“I’m really proud of it,” Kelly said. “The reality is, we’re going to be ex-players a lot longer than we are current players –which is the cliche term to say, but there’s a lot there. There’s a lot of life to live. So what do I want to do next? You can’t play the game forever.”
Kelly going pro right out of high school lined up his and Boyd’s careers. The left-hander played one more year of college ball and then was drafted by the Blue Jays in 2013. He debuted two years later. Kelly was on Boyd’s heels, cracking into the big-leagues in 2016.
“A lot of the Northwest guys, we keep an eye out for who’s doing well and who’s coming up the pipeline and all this stuff,” Kelly said. “It’s a closer knit group, that Oregon-Washington area.”
So, Kelly and Boyd, who grew up in the Seattle area, kept in touch and kept tabs on each other as they built their major-league careers.
In August of 2023, the Tigers signed Kelly, who’d been released by the Diamondbacks, reuniting him with Boyd, who was sidelined for the Tigers after season-ending Tommy John surgery.
They’d finally become teammates – even if they wouldn’t get to play together until this year with the Cubs.
“Eespecially in a position where communication is crucial, like the pitcher-catcher relationship, it definitely helps that we know each other,” Boyd said. “I remember, we were talking in Detroit, back when my arm was on a sling, and we were still talking pitching, and were talking about approach.”
