Yankees Right-Handed Pitching Prospect Sean Boyle Continues to Defy the Odds

Always an underdog, Sean Boyle didn’t start playing baseball until his second year of high school in Selden, N.Y., and got off to an inauspicious start.

He was cut from the team.

But instead of complaining, he set out to practice every day with his father, Wayne Boyle, at the local ball field and practiced in his backyard throwing to a command target, using a mound they built together in his backyard that he still throws from to this day.  

After high school, there were no offers from colleges, but he had been a great success in summer ball, so when he called Eric Brown, the head coach at Suffolk Community College on Long Island, Brown was excited to have him try out for the team. It turned out that was one of the best decisions that Boyle made. 

Boyle did so well at Suffolk that he caught the attention of scout Chris Wimmer. He put Boyle on Wes Johnson’s radar, who was then the pitching coach for Dallas Baptist University in Texas. Johnson flew in from Texas to New York for a half day to see Boyle pitch. Afterwards, he invited Sean for a campus visit at Dallas Baptist and offered Boyle a scholarship. 

Now 28, Boyle is a right-handed pitcher  who was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 25th round of the 2018 MLB Draft. He has pitched in the Yankees minor league system for six seasons from 2018-24, and was working his way up the ladder before disaster struck and he had to get Tommy John surgery.  

He pitched through pain for the majority of the 2023 season, and perhaps a little bit before that.  

Yankees pitching prospect @SeanCBoyle is the ultimate underdog story and he’s better than ever after Tommy John Surgery in 2023.

Spring Stats: 5.2 IP | 0 ER | 6 SO

Minors Career Stats: 351.1 IP | 379 SO | 3.54 ERA pic.twitter.com/IBK3UhHCyA

— Dugout Station (@DugoutStation) March 1, 2025

Something that has stuck with Boyle since his college days is his efficiency — he normally averages 15 pitches or fewer pitches per inning. Boyle does not walk a lot of batters and has averaged 2.1 walks per nine innings in his college career. In 2018, his success in the DBU bullpen in his senior year was what caught the Yankees’ attention.  

Boyle also had made the rare switch from reliever to starter, and in 2021 the Yankees were rewarded for making that switch.  

That season, Boyle accomplished a rare feat and pitched in four Yankee affiliates in the same season: the Low-A Tampa Tarpons, the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades, the Double-A Somerset Patriots, and the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Boyle was part of two combined no-hitters in 2021, one each with the Renegades and RailRiders. In 2022, Boyle continued his progress to the point he was voted the pitcher of the year by Somerset Patriots fans. He also earned the nickname “Mr. Quality Start” after leading the Yankees farm system with 13 quality starts, where a starter allows three or fewer runs over at least six innings of work, and led the system in games started (28), innings pitched (155.2), and strikeouts (160).  

 He made his last nine starts of the season with the RailRiders in 2022. The next season, he was poised to take off and have the possibility of making his Major League debut.  

Unfortunately, a big blow came on June 13, 2023 with his injury, though it also had a silver lining in that it made his arm stronger than ever. Following his return in 2024, Boyle said his arm is feeling better than it ever has before.  

“It was all new territory… the whole way through pro ball and college, you’re just learning your way. Admitting to myself I was hurt and I needed surgery was probably the hardest part,” Boyle told World Baseball Network. “The days were really long but the year was kinda short.” 

Boyle expressed the importance of stacking good days, which would lead to having good months. Overall, though it was a very tedious process.  

 “I threw like 25-30 bullpens before facing batters. I kept trying to push and push… and it wasn’t happening. Then you get into the game and you find that other gear,” Boyle told World Baseball Network. “I still wasn’t trusting it until I got to pitch at an affiliate and each time was just better and better.”  

Since he lived near the Yankees training complex in Tampa, he had an advantage in that he could rehab and train there every day. He made his first game appearance post-rehab on July 15, 2024, with the Florida Complex League Yankees. They brought him back slowly with short relief appearances, he then pitched a few games with Hudson Valley with a 1.39 ERA in seven innings of relief work. He finished the season with Double-A Somerset with a 3.27 ERA in 11 relief appearances. 

“Early in the mound progression we were working on mechanics and getting things cleaned up like my back hip transition,” Boyle said.  

At the end of the 2024 season, Boyle became a minor league free agent, but the Yankees quickly signed him to another minor league contract a few days after the World Series, since the Yankees had exclusive rights to negotiate a contract for five days after the World Series. 

In 2025, the Yankees invited Boyle to Major League spring training. He took full advantage of his opportunity with strikeouts of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, and Jazz Chisholm in live batting practice on February 18 at Steinbrenner Field.  

NY native Sean Boyle strikes out Aaron Judge #Yankees pic.twitter.com/zRxAjjyJMi

— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) February 18, 2025

He was reassigned to minor league camp on March 1. His most recent spring training appearance was against the Tampa Bay Rays on March 16 at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, where he picked up the win pitching four innings out of the bullpen, giving up three hits with one run allowed, four strikeouts, and two walks. His numbers this spring are 12 1/3 innings, 14 strikeouts, and an ERA of 2.92. 

Boyle’s pitch mix mainly consists of a cut fastball, two-seam sinker, sweeper, changeup, and he is also working on a four-seam fastball. Velocity is not the key to Boyle’s success, but commanding and controlling all of his pitches is what sets him apart. His sweeper has become a game changer against left-handed hitters . 

On February 28 against the Toronto Blue Jays this spring, he struck out Blue Jays catcher Tyler Heineman, a switch hitter batting from the left side, with an 0-2 backdoor sweeper that drew a whiff before the pitched ball hit Heineman on the left hip.   

Sean Boyle had the batter so fooled he drilled them and still got a strikeout.

Nasty slider. pic.twitter.com/ffHXReMEzV

— Ryan Garcia (@RyanGarciaESM) March 1, 2025

“When that kinda thing that happens… My game is I have to pitch, I have to move the ball around. I’m doing my job and keeping batters unbalanced,” Boyle said. “Obviously I don’t want to hit anybody, but if I’m getting the result I’m not gonna complain about it. I’m maxing out around the 91-93 range right now. The shapes of my pitches are good and [velocity] is in a good place.”  

In his minor league career, Boyle has thrown 351 1/3 innings with 379 strikeouts, a 3.54 ERA, and a WHIP of 1.10.  

The older Boyle has an important message to get out to all parents and kids in regards to pitching.  

“A lot of parents are suckered into thinking they have to spend a ton on equipment, and literally thousands every year for training and to be on the ‘right’ team,” Wayne Boyle, Sean’s father, said. “They’re promised college scholarships, etc. Sean’s story should show that you don’t need those. We didn’t pay to be on a team other than the $100 uniform fee. We didn’t train at an academy. I literally cut down 30 trees in my backyard and made a complete infield and mound where we practiced every single day, even if it snowed.” 

“We trained on command, movement, and changing speeds. Most guys just train to throw fast so by the time they get to Double-A, where guys can time a bullet, they get cut,” the elder Boyle told World Baseball Network. “Guys who learn to add pitches, and learn to mix and pitch, they have a chance in Double-A on up.”  

With the Yankees’ rotational depth being tested by losing Gerrit Cole for the season with Tommy John surgery, and Luis Gil for at least three months with a lat strain, there will be another opportunity for Boyle to make his debut with the Yankees. He also could come up as a middle reliever depending on the team’s needs.  

Photo: The New York Yankees’ Sean Boyle pitches to the Toronto Blue Jays during the fourth inning of a spring training baseball game Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)