Red Sox call on Nathan Eovaldi to kick off 2021
It’s finally here, Red Sox Nation. The Grapefruit League is set to pop off today and Boston will begin their redemption tour against the Minnesota Twins. On the bump, today will be fireballing right-hander Nathan Eovaldi and the tone for the season could be set this afternoon. This team is desperate to erase the memories of the last two seasons and it all begins today.
I know that may sound a bit dramatic but think about it, if the team can come out of the gates hot in the Grapefruit League and get some momentum, they can roll that right into the regular season. Opening Day isn’t far off and these guys need as much positivity as they can get before that day hits. Every solid pitching performance, every solid at-bat, and every win will build confidence for the actual task at hand in 2021.
I’m not surprised to see Evo get the call today as Eduardo Rodriguez is still getting himself fully back to form. Luckily for the Red Sox, E-Rod has been looking good during batting practice and in simulated efforts, so I’m sure he’ll be on the hill in a game soon. For Eovaldi, he has job security as he won’t be a free-agent until 2023, but that doesn’t mean he’s not without a need for a good year.
His 2020 saw a return to form for the righty compared to his abysmal injury-ridden 2019 but he needs to back it up again. The righty finished with a 4-2 record last year while tallying 3.72/48.1/3.87/1.200 line which as I said was a great return to form for Evo. We still don’t know how Rodriguez will bounce back from his year-off due to COVID and myocarditis, so having an in-form Nasty Nate will be huge. If he has that fastball zipping with ease today then that may give us all the answers we need for him this year. As always though, his health will always be the top question for Red Sox fans.
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It’s going to take a few games to see just exactly what we’re working with in the 2021 Red Sox and what the season may look like. One thing is for certain and that is we shouldn’t be seeing the squad finish near the bottom of the barrel. Chaim Bloom and his team may not have splashed big money this winter but they definitely brought in quality players that will instantly make Boston better. Several of the deficiencies we’ve suffered through since 2018 have been addressed and should hopefully not weigh them down this year.
Alex Cora went with a mixture of familiar faces with a splash of some new ones in his lineup today. Behind Eovaldi today we’ll see the Red Sox debuts of Enrique Hernandez and Hunter Renfroe, as well as, looks at top prospect Jarren Duran and the recently acquired Michael Gettys. This isn’t an unusual practice during spring training but in Duran’s case, this very well could be the camp that finally gets him to the Majors.
Today’s matchup against the Twins will take place at CenturyLink Sports Complex in Fort Myers. As Cora’s first game since his return, he’s got as much pressure as anyone on his shoulders, despite it only being spring training. Nathan Eovaldi was thrust into the role of the ace in 2020 and even if he’s not the top dog this year, he’s going to continue to carry that mentality.
This afternoon’s game against the Twins will see a 1:05 pm first pitch with Fort Myers seeing an 86 degrees and sunny forecast.