Things are going pretty well for the Boston Red Sox and yet there are plenty of reasons to fret. Despite being in the toughest division in Major League Baseball, they have a winning record and look more than competent.
The Red Sox had a questionable offseason with some of the biggest errors becoming who they let go. When we look at their most recent crop of free agents to leave the ball club, the ones they could use most right now are a bit of a surprise.
It’s not Xander Bogaerts the Red Sox would be desperate to get back. The offense is fine. It’s these three pitchers Boston could use on the roster again.
1) The Red Sox roster is missing the Nathan Eovaldi magic
Nathan Eovaldi became one of several free agent starting pitchers the Texas Rangers signed this offseason. Through 9 starts, Eovaldi is 5-2 with a 2.83 ERA. His inability to stay healthy during much of his time in Boston was one of the reasons why they let him go. However, with nearly half as many starts in the books this year as he had all of last year with the Red Sox, it’s easy to see why they would want him back.
Instead of re-signing Eovaldi, the Red Sox inked Corey Kluber. Hoping to milk the last ounces of talent out of him hasn’t worked well. He’s less of a short-term chip they could always trade if things go poorly and more of a guy who could be headed toward becoming a serious DFA candidate.
The nostalgia of how impressive Eovaldi was in the 2018 postseason will have Red Sox fans forever clinging to their fandom for him. He had one of the most dazzling postseason imaginable and he did it as a starter and reliever.
As if it wasn’t painful enough to see Eovaldi thrive elsewhere, the Red Sox would probably like to have this other guy back on the roster who just beat them on Sunday.