Selden's Sean Boyle off to good start after promotion to Triple-A Scranton

During the early days of his Mets fandom, high school freshman Sean Boyle was watching a game with his family when a thought suddenly occurred to him.

Something the Selden native – now a relief pitcher for the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate Scranton/Wilkes Barre just over a decade later – found to be unextraordinary.

"I started watching the Mets and they had a pitcher on the mound throwing 83 miles per hour," the 24-year-old righthander told Newsday this week. "I’m like, ‘I can give that a shot. That doesn’t look too bad.’ So I started playing in the yard and when I found out there were [junior varsity] tryouts [for Newfield High School] I figured I didn’t have anything to lose."

Boyle, who entered the tryouts lacking any previous organized sports experience and had been watching YouTube videos with his father to learn how to pitch, received a reality check when he was cut on the third day.

"I showed up in shorts and had no idea what I was doing," Boyle said. "I got cut and had to walk home from the tryout because I didn’t have a phone to call my dad. We have a lot of fun laughing at that. But the goal was to make the team sophomore year and I did. That was a really cool way to get it started."

From there began a meteoric rise to the professional ranks. After thriving at Dallas Baptist University, the 6-1, 205-pound Boyle was drafted by the Yankees in the 25th round of the 2018 MLB Draft. His repertoire features a sinking fastball that ranges from 90-94 miles per hour, as well as a slider, changeup and cutter.

"It’s definitely pretty crazy," Boyle said. "I may not think about it a whole lot, but being in this environment, seeing all this action recently with guys getting called up, it reminds you of how close you are."

Boyle came not one, but two steps closer on Aug. 7, as he was promoted from High-A Tampa to Scranton, skipping over Double-A Somerset in the process. In two games with Scranton, he is 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA in 8 1/3 innings pitched. He has eight strikeouts with one walk.

"It sounds weird to say that I’m just enjoying my time here, but I’m definitely taking every opportunity and running with it," Boyle said. "No matter what level I’m at, I go out and try to attack in every setting and every role. It comes down to simply being the best player I can be."

As Boyle continues to emerge as the extraordinary talent he envisioned back in high school, he credits his family for the support they’ve given him throughout the journey. He referenced another running joke he tells his dad referring to his days of learning to play baseball.

Said Boyle: "I tell him, ‘Pretty good for a father and son learning through YouTube.’ "