Nathan Eovaldi Tosses Seven Shutout Innings In Red Sox Debut, As Boston Takes Three Of Four From The Twins
Red Sox should’ve swept. I’m not bitter. Just want the wins that are rightfully mine, and that Thursday night 2-1 loss was so close to a win that I could taste it. I’m high off all these wins. I’m win-hungry. Win-obsessed. After losing that Thursday night game that they absolutely should’ve won, the Red Sox won the next three straight games to take the series from the Minnesota Twins. In the series finale, the Red Sox unveiled their newest trade acquisition from the Tampa Bay Rays, right-handed starting pitcher, Nathan Eovaldi.
After missing the entire 2017 season following his second Tommy John surgery, Eovaldi returned to the Rays this season and got out to a great start with a 3.35 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 48.1 innings over eight starts. Then, he ran into the Twins. Back on July 13, Minnesota touched Eovaldi up for eight earned runs on nine hits in two and two thirds innings. His ERA ballooned from 3.35 to 4.59, although it came down a little bit to 4.26 in his next start, which was the start before he was dealt to Boston.
On Sunday, Eovaldi was introducing himself to Red Sox Nation, while also getting the chance to redeem himself against the team that had shelled him a little more than two weeks prior. Oh, and he was doing it at Fenway Park in front of a brand new, sold out home crowd. No pressure. So, how’d he do? Seven shutout innings, four hits, no walks, five strikeouts. Oh, and that was all after 82 pitches. When you’ve got a guy coming back from a second Tommy John surgery, you’ve gotta be careful not to push him too hard. Take your seven shutout innings and be happy with what you’ve got. Eovaldi’s performance on Sunday was similar to his start on July 8 when he threw seven one-hit, shutout innings against the Mets with nine strikeouts, needing just 79 pitches to breeze through that start.
The Red Sox offense is great — we all know that — but their pitching staff has been the best in baseball since the All Star break. The Red Sox lead the majors in ERA since the break (2.59), and they lead the American League in WHIP (1.05), trailing only the Dodgers (1.04) for the major league lead. But if you hone in on just the Red Sox starting pitchers, they lead the majors in ERA (1.38) and WHIP (0.94), and it ain’t close. The next best team’s starters, the Blue Jays, have a 2.61 ERA since the break.
Before we move on, I just wanna double down on a point that I made last week — the Red Sox are under no obligation to let Drew Pomeranz “figure it out” while he comes back from injury, and the fact that they have a decent lead in the division shouldn’t be used as a reason why they can afford to let him work his way back at the major league level. Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, Nathan Eovaldi, Brian Johnson. Those are five starting pitchers who are giving you a chance to win just about every time they take the mound. If you’ve still got shit you need to figure out, then figure it out on a rehab assignment or out of the bullpen as a mop-up guy. I’m not trying to donate wins so that Pomeranz can figure his shit out when the Red Sox have five more than capable starters ready to go. Kick rocks, dog.
If you haven’t been following the Red Sox much this year, JD Martinez is good at baseball. He was 2-for-4 on Sunday with 3 RBI, and that was all the Red Sox would need. That was the 11th time this season that the Red Sox have shut out their opponent, and they’ve just about caught the Astros for the best run differential in baseball with Boston at +177 and Houston at +179. No team in the National League is even at +100 coming into play today.
Speaking of play today, the Red Sox welcome the Philadelphia Phillies to Fenway Park for a two-game series with an off-day on Wednesday. In the first game, we’ve got quite the matchup with one of the National League’s best, Aaron Nola, squaring off against David Price. Nola has been fantastic this year and is undoubtedly pitching his way into the National League Cy Young conversation. He brings a 12-3 record, the NL’s third best ERA (2.42) and WHIP (0.99), which is just a hair lower than Jacob deGrom’s (0.98).
Since getting his doors blown off at Yankee Stadium, Price has gotten better with each passing start. Over his last two starts, he’s allowed just three earned runs with 13 strikeouts in 13 innings, and the Red Sox have won both of those games.
One last thing — Jackie Bradley Jr. made one of the best catches of the season. Not a big deal. Another day at the office for JBJ.
Final score: Red Sox 3, Twins 0
