There is lots of talk about Hudson Boyd's weight, but the might be watching a different number even more closely....

 

He was clocked consistently from 91 to 94 miles per hour with his fastball in high school. "I topped out at 97 a few times," he said.

 

 

The fastball was 91 to 93 last summer at Elizabethton and his strikeouts were low -- 36 in 58 innings.

 

 

"I'd like to get a little more velo [velocity] this spring," he said. "I have to work on my changeup, too. Ras showed me a few ways to throw one in instructional league this fall, and I got one that might work."

 

 

Reusse: Twins invest in Fort Myers | StarTribune.com

This is an interesting article. If Boyd can keep in shape, it sounds like he may have a high upside.

I had to laugh that his motivation to get healthy was his upcoming 21st birthday ... the last big one to celebrate? Yeah, ok.

It was good to see this article saying Boyd dropped some weight. I know he was already a big dude when drafted, but even at Spring Training last year you could tell he was carrying something extra.

 

Watched him pitch a few times there, and happened to be standing near the coaches to hear their thoughts at one point. They were not happy with him at all, visibly and audibly expressing such. Hopefully dropping some pounds will bring back some fastball life and also helps elsewhere.

Here's a photo Reusse took of him on his Twitter feed, saying he was down 30 pounds from last year.