Yankees Nathan Eovaldi: Just The Tip Of The Iceberg

Well hello there everybody! Welcome to This Week In Yankees Baseball. With all the excitement surrounding Nathan Eovaldi’s outstanding outing against the Red Sox, it’s worth evaluating the long term value of the deal that brought him to the Yankees from the Marlins.

The key components of the deal at the time were Eovaldi, David Phelps and Martin Prado. Phelps had amassed a 15-14 record for the Yankees from 2010 through 2012. His 63 starts yielded an ERA of 4.21.

Eovaldi, meanwhile, had a record of 13-27 for the Marlins. His ERA sat at 4.11. His combination of a triple digit fastball and inconsistent control resulted in some calling him an enigma, and others labeling him as a headache waiting to happen.

But after a solid performance before his late-season injury in 2015, and his dominating effort against the Red Sox this weekend, what are the prospects that he is finally turning the corner?

“When I see Nathan pitching,” Carlos Beltran said according to MLB.com. “I think about a lot of guys I have faced in the past. Kevin Brown, Roger Clemens. That type of stuff where you know if he’s capable of spotting the ball and throwing the split in the strike zone, he’s going to get a lot of people out. He’s a guy that throws 95 plus to 100 from the first inning to the eighth. He has great stamina, and we’re happy to see Nathan go out there today and pitch a great game.”

While Beltran may not possess the physical skills that he once had, there is absolutely nothing hindering his memory. For him to mention Eovaldi in the same breath as Brown and Clemens is high praise. And it is praise you do not hear him offering every day.

Certainly, Prado offers a solid bat (especially when he is evaluated over 500 of them). And that is something the Yankees could use right now. But that, combined with what Phelps is likely to provide over his career, does not come close to matching Eovaldi’s upside.

His performance this weekend could represent the tip of the iceberg. And should that upside rise to the level of Brown and Clemens, then the trade will prove as an excellent one for the Yankees.