Red Sox: Nathan Eovaldi is finally having his career year

The Red Sox starter has endured the long road to put it all together

As Nathan Eovaldi exited the mound at Fenway Park last Tuesday night, he could take solace in the fact that he just completed one of the best starting pitching efforts the Boston Red Sox have seen throughout the entire second half.

Eovaldi spun seven shutout innings against the ever-potent Tampa Bay Rays, marking the latest chapter in his run of dominance. In his last six starts, Eovaldi has posted a 1.91 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP in 37.2 innings, allowing only 8 earned runs, holding opposing batters to a .207 average, and whiffing 47 hitters.

Getting to this point certainly wasn’t easy. Having already undergone his first Tommy John surgery before being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008, Eovaldi struggled with inconsistency and injury throughout his early career.

In 2012, after going 1-6 with a 4.15 ERA, he was traded to the Miami Marlins in the deal that put Red Sox alumni Hanley Ramirez in Dodger blue. Eovaldi spent two-and-a half seasons in Miami, ultimately posting a 13-27 record, a 4.10 ERA, 264 strikeouts, and a 93 ERA+ in 369.0 innings. Though his surface stats were rough in 2014 (6-14, 4.37 ERA), Eovaldi posted career highs in starts (33) and innings (199.2), and they remain the best of his career today.

Shortly thereafter, Eovaldi was traded again, this time being sent to the New York Yankees. With the addition of a split-fingered fastball, 2015 became Eovaldi’s best overall season up to that point. For most of the summer, Eovaldi was lights out — from June to August, he went undefeated (8-0) and posted a 2.93 ERA. In September, the rest of his season was derailed by elbow inflammation, and the Yankees shut him down.

2016 saw Eovaldi finish close to his previous years performance, but the injuy bug bit once more — this time, it was the need for another Tommy John surgery. Afterwards, the Yankees released him, and the book was closed on Eovaldi in New York.

Though he was going to miss all of 2017 rehabbing from Tommy John, the Tampa Bay Rays took a chance on Eovaldi, inking him to a one-year, $2 million contract with a club option under the same terms. After a strong spring training in 2018 (3.24 ERA), Eovaldi suffered a setback in his recovery that March, requiring another elbow surgery, this time for “loose bodies”. Eovaldi finally completed the long road back, returning on May 30, 2018 for his first regular season start in almost a year-and-a-half. That night, Eovaldi shut down the Oakland A’s through six no hit innings.

The Red Sox acquire Nathan Eovaldi

That performance definitely caught the attention of the Red Sox. The week before the 2018 trade deadline, Boston sent Jalen Beeks to Tampa Bay in exchange for Eovaldi. With the 2018 Red Sox, Eovaldi had one of the best runs of his career, posting a 3.33 ERA in 12 games, striking out 48 batters in 54 innings.

Eovaldi was excellent in the postseason — he shut down the Yankees over 7 innings in the Brock Holt game, pitched 6 innings of 2-run ball against the Houston Astros in Game Three of the ALCS, and helped close the door on Game Five, throwing 1.1 innings out of the bullpen.

If all of that wasn’t enough, Eovaldi went above and beyond, establishing himself in Red Sox lore with a gutsy performance in Game Three of the 2018 World Series against the Dodgers. Though he became the losing pitcher in the longest World Series game ever recorded, Eovaldi gutted through 6 innings of relief (the first reliever to do so in a World Series game since 1977) and throwing 97 pitches (the most ever thrown by a reliever in a World Series game).

After the Red Sox and Chris Sale shut the door on the Dodgers in Game 5, Eovaldi became a free agent, but it was obvious the Red Sox had a lot of interest in locking him up for the long run, and that’s exactly what they did to the tune of $68 million over 4 years. It was an obvious move to make, and it was certainly deserved — though some were concerned due his injury history and inconsistent numbers. 2019 was to be Eovaldi’s age-29 season, and the Red Sox were counting on Eovaldi to be a top-of-the-line starter, along with veterans Chris Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Rick Porcello.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t mean to be. Eovaldi struggled right out of the gate, posting a 6.00 ERA with four no decisions in his first four starts. It wasn’t long before another “loose body” was found in his pitching elbow and he missed the next two-and-a-half months after undergoing surgery. Eovaldi scuffled upon his return, first in a closer role, giving up 5 earned runs in 3.2 innings.

The Red Sox opted to move Brandon Workman to the closer role, shifting Eovaldi back into the rotation. He went on to finish with a 5.99 ERA in 23 games (12 starts), but his strikeout numbers were encouraging (70 in 67.2 innings).

The Red Sox rotation falls apart

As for the other key members of the rotation, Sale struggled throughout the season, posing a 6-11 record with a career-high 4.40 ERA in 25 starts. Though he struck out 218 batters in 147.2 innings, Sale never found a groove and eventually had to undergo Tommy John surgery, missing all of 2020 (Sale has been fantastic since his return to Red Sox in August — he was placed on the COVID-19 IL on Saturday, however).

To Rodriguez’s credit, 2019 has been his best season to date (Rodriguez missed 2020 to a heart condition caused by COVID-19 and he’s been inconsistent this year) — his 19 wins were the third most in baseball and his 203.1 innings were among the top 15, just behind Jacob Degrom.

Porcello went 14-12 with a 5.52 ERA and left in free agency, signing with the New York Mets.

The Red Sox finished 84-78, missing the playoffs. In the offseason, they lost Manager Alex Cora due to MLB’s findings in the Houston Astros sign stealing investigation (Cora returned before the 2021 season). Mookie Betts was traded to the Dodgers. Then, the world experienced a life-changing pandemic, which is still impacting everyone, including the Red Sox.