MLB free agency: The future faces of regret
By Ben Fadden
1. Red Sox sign Nathan Eovaldi
Although Nathan Eovaldi showed some real heart and pitched well in the playoffs for them, he is almost 30 and he has already gone through two Tommy John surgeries, and needed another elbow procedure at the end of the 2018 season.
Eovaldi posted a 3.33 ERA and had a record of 6-7, as he controlled the game when he was on the mound especially in October, but his previous seasons have caused some uncertainty.
In October, Eovaldi would start one game, and then the very next day tell manager Alex Cora to put him in the bullpen. That night, when Game 3 if the World Series went into extra innings, led to Eovaldi pitching the final six innings of the 18 inning game. This should worry Red Sox fans going into the season because he left it all out there with a twice-repaired arm.
He has only pitched for the Red Sox for one year, but he has pitched against the American League East for a while now. The AL East is hitting .307 off of him, and he isn’t getting any younger.
Eovaldi has only made 30 starts in his career once, and has a career ERA of over 4.00. His arm could falter at any time, and with the uncertainty of the Red Sox bullpen, that is not a good thing if the Red Sox want to keep up with a super bullpen out in the Bronx.
He will definitely be in the starting rotation, but if the Red Sox want to prove me wrong, then they do what they did with Chris Sale last year: limit his amount of starts in August and September. Give him a start or two off if they are playing Baltimore at home late in the year.
The only way I can see Eovaldi working for the next four seasons would be to keep an eye on his health and give him more rest, so he is ready to go for October.