It's time to jump on the Nathan Eovaldi bandwagon
Nathan Eovaldi, with his fastball in the upper
90's, nasty splitter, plus slider and knee-buckling curveball, has spent his career figuring himself out since coming into the league in 2011. People around baseball
have held onto the hope that he could transition from a ‘thrower’ to a ‘pitcher.’
After a strong finish to the 2015 season, and top-line showing thus far in
2016, Nathan Eovaldi looks like he is turning the corner, so it’s time we
appreciate the pitcher he's becoming for the New York Yankees.
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| Picture Credit: Noah K. Murray | USA TODAY Sports |
Even
with his potential ace stuff, Eovaldi has been anything but an ace to this
point in his career. Initially, Eovaldi's fastball was described by scouts as
being "straight as an arrow" and it seemed as if every start began
with a precaution that if he wasn't locating his off speed pitches, he was in
for a long outing.
Eovaldi
finished an inconsistent season with the Yankees last year with a 14-3 record
and an ERA of 4.20. His win-loss record was misleading due to the large amount
run support he received. He also had a less than adequate WHIP of 1.45. But
things began to change following the All-Star break of last season, carrying
over to this season. Eovaldi posted a second half record of 5-1 with a 3.67
ERA in a shortened season due to injury. He also missed more bats, striking out 50 batters in 56.1 innings as
opposed to just 71 strikeouts in 91 innings pitched in the first half.
And
he's been even better this season through ten starts. In fact, he's been
nothing short of magnificent posting a 6-2 record and an ERA of 3.71. He has
stuck out 57 hitters in 60.2 innings and opposing hitters have hit just .242
off him compared to .272 during his career. This is a testament to his further
development of his secondary pitches.
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| Picture Credit: Kyle Terada | USA TODAY Sports |
“I
feel like I have command of my offspeed pitches where I can get out of
situations now, as opposed to last year where I had to rely heavily on my
fastball,” Eovaldi said after his shutdown performance in Tampa. “And I feel I
can throw that split in any count.”
Eovaldi has done just that.
Eovaldi has done just that.
Already
this year, Eovaldi has taken a no-hitter into the seventh inning in Texas, and
he enjoyed a stretch where he sat down 18 straight hitters against Arizona. Consistency has been an issue with the still young righty, but going 6-0
with a 2.72 ERA over his last seven starts, he is finally presenting himself as
the top-end starter he's always shown flashes of being.
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| Picture Credit: Aaron Josefcyzk | AP |
“I
never look at myself as an ace, but I do want to do well when we're struggling
and try and get us back on track,” Eovaldi said. “I do feel like if you have a
good start from a starter, everybody else can build off of that.”
Following Michael Pineda has been a tall-task for Eovaldi,
but he seems to thrive at the opportunity to redeem the Yankees the following
day after a dreadful Pineda start. Since a rough start handed him his only two
losses this year and a 6.11 ERA through three starts, Eovaldi has rallied off
five quality starts over his last seven outings. And although Masahiro Tanaka
has been an ace-caliber starter all year, "Nasty Nate" has lived up
to his nickname being just as reliable as the Yankees 155-million-dollar man. His
teammates have taken notice.
“With
that kind of arm that he has, fastball command and off-speed, I think he’s
capable of being something really special; a lot better than he’s shown at
times,” Brett Gardner said.
Pineda has begun pitching his way out of the rotation due to his lackluster performance, so it's safe to consider
Eovaldi as the team's number two starter. Granted, CC Sabathia has been a
pleasant surprise, but Eovaldi has shown flashes of utter dominance.
Consistency is a common trend of this article, as well as his career, so if he
can shutdown opposing offenses consistently, he can become one of the more
intimidating pitchers in the league.
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| Picture Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke |
“I
definitely feel like I can be the ace, but right now I feel like that's not my
role,” Eovaldi said. “I want to go out there and have good outings, and put
together consistent outings.”
With
Tanaka already in mid-season form, and Sabathia in 2011 form in the early going,
Eovaldi is the X-factor in turning a rotation that had so many question marks
into an impressive rotation, which would go a long way in turning the season
around. Eovaldi's already a fun pitcher to watch as fans love to see the upper
90's on the radar gun. There are no indications he will not sustain his success
he's enjoyed in what is turning into a breakout year, and Yankee fans as well
as baseball fans across the game need to start taking notice and jumping on the
bandwagon, if you have not already.
Article
by: Chad Raines
Follow
me on Twitter @Chad_Rain
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the BBB @BronxBomberBlog
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