Yankees Rumors: Bombers scout right-hander Nathan Eovaldi

According to Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, Yankees scouts were in attendance to watch Nathan Eovaldi take a perfect game into the seventh inning on Sunday.

Nasty Nate back to the Bronx? That’s the latest rumor making the rounds, as scouts from the Yankees were in Queens on Sunday to watch their former starter dazzle across seven innings of one-hit ball, striking out nine.

Tampa Bay’s 9-0 victory over the Mets moved Eovaldi’s record to 3-3 on the season. The 28-year-old boasts a 3.35 ERA, minuscule 0.81 WHIP and 44:6 K:BB ratio across 48.1 innings pitched.

Originally acquired from the Marlins as part of a five-player trade that also netted the Yankees young right-hander Domingo German, it’ll be curious to see what the Bombers would be willing to surrender for a two-time Tommy John recipient, that began this season on the DL with bone chips in his throwing arm.

In his two seasons in the Bronx, Eovaldi showed signs of being a frontline pitcher, especially in 2015 when he went 14-3 in 154.1 innings. Overall, “Nasty Nate,” as fans came to affectionately refer to him as compiled a 23-11 record, 4.45 ERA, 1.387 WHIP and 218:89 K:BB ratio in 279 frames (48 starts).

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For the record, following his second TJ surgery, Eovaldi wanted to return the Yankees, but the feelings were not mutual, and Nate was soon released in November of 2017. He soon-after signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Rays that included a second year at another $2 million. Right now, the gamble looks to have paid off for the Rays.

If the Yankees were to re-acquire Eovaldi they’d know what to expect from his repertoire; an upper-90s four-seam fastball, a sharp back-door cutter, diving splitter, slider and occasional curveball.

Aside from staying injury-free, the biggest concern when it comes to the pitching prowess of Eovaldi is that he’s always given up a ton of hits. Across his seven-year big league career, he’s averaged 9.3 H/9, including a career-high 10.2 with the Yanks in 2015.

Though he has held right-handed batters to a .204 BAA and left-handers to .177 this season, his cumulative .267 career BAA and nine home runs already allowed this year still leaves room for concern.

Next: Blake Snell outshines all other trade candidates

While it’s entirely possible that Nathan Eovaldi’s best days are still ahead of him, you have to wonder if the Yankees really desire a second go-around. It never did work out with fellow right-hander Javier Vazquez.