The Red Sox have had their share of late-inning bullpen meltdowns in recent years. Could recently-acquired starter Nathan Eovaldi be their solution in the playoffs?
In today’s game, the bullpen is such an important part of every team. Having a reliable ‘pen is often the key to making it far in the playoffs. The Boston Red Sox have a pretty decent bullpen, ranking 6th in the majors in ERA, but they have been in need of a reliable 8th inning guy for multiple years now.
Dave Dombrowski has tried to fill that gap by acquiring Carson Smith and Tyler Thornburg in past years, but neither of them has paid off or been able to play much. Matt Barnes has been the 8th inning reliever for most of the season, although his dependability is questionable with his 3.51 ERA and 4.63 BB/9.
So who can the Red Sox turn to in the playoffs to get big outs late in games? An under-the-radar solution could be starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi.
Eovaldi was acquired back in July from the Tampa Bay Rays to fill a gap in the rotation and add depth to the pitching staff. He’s had three good starts, and three not so good starts with the Sox so far this season.
But what makes Eovaldi a great candidate to pitch in the late innings is his fastball velocity and command of the strike zone. Eovaldi averages about 97 mph on his fastball and can reach 100 mph. An electric fastball like that can be deadly late in games – especially when the pitcher has control of it.
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Unlike flame-throwers like Barnes, Joe Kelly, and Craig Kimbrel, Eovaldi has great control of his fastball and he doesn’t walk a whole lot of batters. He has a 1.21 BB/9 which is the lowest on the team and second lowest in MLB. Additionally, he has a 6.17 strikeout to walk ratio. To put that in perspective, Kimbrel has just a 3.24 K/BB ratio and Chris Sale has a 6.64 K/BB ratio this season.
Plus, with guys like Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Steven Wright all returning from the DL before the postseason, Eovaldi likely won’t have a spot in the playoff rotation anyway. So using him as a late reliever would make sense.
However, I don’t think this should be a long-term solution to the bullpen. Eovaldi still has potential as a starter and showed us that he can put together quality starts when he threw back to back shutouts in his first 2 starts with the Red Sox.
But for the 2018 postseason, putting Nathan in the back end of the bullpen could really pay off for the Red Sox.