How Does Nathan Eovaldi Feel About Being Dealt?

Nathan Eovaldi is going to bring some electrifying stuff to New York, his attitude being one of them. While many fans and analysts are upset with the trading of Martin Prado because of his versatility and clubhouse presence, Eovaldi can provide a spark of youth and energy that is very much needed in an aging roster. 

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Anthony McCarron of the NY Daily News wrote Eovaldi reacted to being traded, “Who doesn’t want to play for the Yankees, unless they’re Boston fans?” He is right in expressing his interest in playing in New York. It is one of the biggest stages and arguably has the most dedicated fans. When he first heard of being traded, Eovaldi exchanged text messages with his former Los Angeles Dodger teammate Chris Capuano. The Yankees brought Capuano back on a one-year, $5 million dollar deal. He gave the Yankees 12 starts last season so he could definitely give Eovaldi some perspective on what it’s like to pitch in the Bronx.

He will need to become more consistent with his stuff if he wants to succeed. He gave up an NL-leading 223 hits in his 6-14 2014 season with the Miami Marlins. Eovaldi’s fastball lights up the radar at 95.5 MPH, which was the fourth highest average in the majors; however, lefties hit .290/.330/.438 against him last season which could be a major concern with the short right field porch in Yankee Stadium.

“My fastball is everything for me. Last year, that’s one of the reasons I was able to throw so many innings — I was able to fine-tune my location. Before, I was hit or miss with it and last year I could locate inside and outside.” His 4.37 ERA showed his struggles last season. One of the possible problems could be that Eovaldi relied so heavily on his fastball and only threw his curveball around 10% of the time. He logged 199.2 innings which shows he is reliable but if he does not figure out how to keep the batters swinging and missing, he can run into serious trouble in 2015.

He certainly has the stuff to be effective if he can pull it together the way Garrett Richards did in 2014. Eovaldi and Richards have similar stuff and are often compared to one another. Richards found success by eliminating his change-up and going with three pitches instead of four. However, if you ask Eovaldi, he feels otherwise. McCarron reported Eovaldi saying, “I want to throw first-pitch strikes with off-speed stuff, even use it on a 2-1 count or 1-and-2. I’m working on my change-up a lot more this off-season, just mixing it in to my repertoire. Last year, toward the end, it helped me out a lot. I want to keep locating the fastball, then use my slider and curve more and have a better mix.”

“I’m real excited and I’m getting ready. The offseason has been going great and I’m looking forward to helping the Yankees out,” Eovaldi said.