SB Nation FanPulse: 69% of Tigers fans think Matthew Boyd is a nice player who should not be traded

The promotional bit: Welcome to SB Nation FanPulse, a survey of fans across MLB. Each week, we send 30 polls to plugged in fans from each team. Detroit Tigers fans, sign up here to join FanPulse.

This week’s FanPulse survey brought out the usual questions, along with a somewhat controversial (and awkwardly phrased) national query that is sparking some interesting discussions throughout the SB Nation blogosphere.

But we, the selfish and devious Tigers writers of the world, had another idea. One of the team-specific questions suggested by the Bless You Boys staff involved Tigers starter Matthew Boyd, he of the smoking hot start to the 2019 regular season. Boyd still leads all qualified MLB pitchers in fWAR, though perhaps only thanks to Jacob deGrom’s elbow after Boyd’s strikeout touch failed him in his last outing.

The question: should the Tigers think about trading Matthew Boyd this season?

The answer could not have turned out better for our internet website.

As you can see, a considerable majority of fans want to see Boyd stick around as a Tiger. There are several reasons for this. Keeping good players on the team is one of the biggest ones, as it is a key component of winning baseball games. Boyd’s popularity among the fanbase is growing as well, in no small part thanks to the incredible charity work he and his wife Ashley are involved in. Boyd seems like the kind of player and person that are easy to root for, and it doesn’t hurt that he is pitching like a Cy Young contender so far this season.

Let’s get into the other questions!

Do you approve of the job Ron Gardenhire is doing as Tigers manager?

90% Yes
10% No

Fans are still overwhelmingly positive about manager Ron Gardenhire. This is his second week in a row with a confidence vote above 90 percent, and he has not been lower than 89 percent on the season. We wondered if this confidence would fade as the team faltered last week, but then they went on to win four of their next five games.

Are you confident in the direction of the team?

75% Yes
25% No

This poll has wavered a bit more, with results ranging from 62 to 84 percent throughout the year. The result of this poll hasn’t quite mirrored the team’s mild hot and cold streaks yet, but it may do so in time. Detroit’s emerging prospect talent may also feed into this answer, as young pitchers like Matt Manning, Alex Faedo, and the recently promoted Casey Mize, have all gotten off to great starts in 2019. We’re excited to see how this poll changes after June’s MLB draft as well.

Is it ever OK for a pitcher to bean a batter?

40% Yes
60% No

This question caused some headaches. Before we even get into the ethical debate present here, the simple definition of the term “bean” swayed some votes in either direction. Few (if any) people would advocate for intentionally hitting a hitter in the head with a pitch, which many consider to be the traditional meaning of “bean.” Those who use the term more loosely to describe any sort of intentional plunking, however, may be a little more open to people hurling projectiles at high velocities at other human beings.

Personally, I’d rather see pitchers take this approach (looking at you, Brad Keller).

What do you think?

As always, remember that you can sign up for FanPulse here.