Yankees Editorial: The Secret Behind the Success of Nathan Eovaldi

On Tuesday night the Yankees watched their number four pitcher Nathan Eovaldi dominate Miguel Cabrera, J.D. Martinez, and company at Comerica Park in route to his first win as a member of the New York Yankees. His final line was 7.0 innings pitched, 8 hits, 1 earned run and 4 strikeouts.

We all know general manager Brian Cashman sacrificed valuable assets this winter in the versatile Martin Prado and the homegrown pitcher David Phelps to get the 25-year old Eovaldi, a flame-throwing right-handed pitcher who led the league in hits given up in 2014 and has posted a losing record over his first four seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins (15-35 when the Yankees acquired him).

Though Cashman has been under fire from the New York media as of late due to Didi Gregorius struggling in his Yankees debut and Shane Greene looking like a Cy Young contender over in Detroit, it looks as if his decision to go out and acquire Eovaldi’s power-arm is paying dividends, especially after he silenced the heavy hitting Detroit Tigers lineup en route to a 5-2 victory in front of a crowd of 27,031 fans in Motown.

So what’s the secret behind the recent success of Nathan Eovaldi? We all know Larry Rothschild worked wonders with Brandon McCarthy last season in the Bronx by tweaking his delivery, but what has he done with the young power arm in Nathan Eovaldi?

"“I changed my arm angle a bit,” Eovaldi told George King III of the New York Post. “My slider has depth and I made pitches when I needed to.”"

As far as his mechanics, Eovaldi said part of his adjustment was keeping his pitching hand closer to his body when he cocks his arm back in the beginning of his windup.

"“His slider was good and the curveball was good,” Skipper Joe Girardi said of Eovaldi, who managed to hit 98 mph late in the ballgame in the seventh inning.“I was able to control the ball and move it inside and out. I made pitches when I needed to. They have a good lineup.”"

Even more encouraging was Eovaldi’s ability to induce four double-play outs, three of which were ground balls turned into double plays and one from a line drive that Eovaldi snagged and turned into a double play himself.

"“He has good stuff and he is young, Girardi said. “He is not a 29-30, year old pitcher in the big leagues. It takes starting pitching time to develop. He does a lot of things right.”"

Yes, we’re only three starts into Eovaldi’s Yankee career, and yes, he’s given up eight hits in each of his last three outings, but perhaps the potential that Brian Cashman and Larry Rothschild saw in Nathan Eovaldi is starting to unfold right in front of our eyes.

Who would have thought that after three starts against the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Ray and Detroit Tigers, Nathan Eovaldi would be 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA to begin his career in pinstripes?

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