Boston Red Sox 2018 player grades: Nathan Eovaldi showed his value

After a pretty stellar second half of the season, Boston Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi cemented himself as a hot commodity for free agency.

Nathan Eovaldi’s career could not have ended up any better after not pitching a game in 2017. After a multitude of right elbow problems, mainly with the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays, the righty finished off a spectacular 2018 with the Boston Red Sox; one that resulted in a World Series win.

Dave Dombrowski traded Boston’s No. 15 prospect in Jalen Beeks for Eovaldi during the final few days of July, thus implementing a much-needed third starter behind Chris Sale and David Price.

Initially, fans seemed generally indifferent to the pick-up, especially since Eovaldi showed a good level of inconsistency throughout his career. Surprisingly, the former Ray put out some of his best work over the course of 2018, even with all of the location changes he had to experience.

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Out of the seven teams Eovaldi has been with over his eight-year career, his time with the Boston Red Sox was by far his best stint. His 3.33 ERA in 12 regular season starts with Alex Cora‘s squad ranks as his best stretch of baseball he’s ever had.

Eovaldi one-upped himself in the playoffs, accumulating an overall ERA of 1.61. Not only that, but he appeared in three games during the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and threw six phenomenal innings of baseball in the Game 3 marathon that lasted 18 innings.

Even though Boston finished with the loss in that contest, Eovaldi’s performance inspired the rest of the team to step up when it mattered most, which eventually bled into the next two games.

Without his persistence, the Sox may not have made the comeback they did in Game 4 when they trailed L.A. 4-0 heading into the eighth, and eventually won 9-6.

Not to mention, Eovaldi sparked a fire under Price that we’ve never seen before, leading to the lefty experiencing his own shining moment with a spectacular Game 5 performance to close out the title. Price even credited Eovaldi for motivating him throughout the playoff run. All in all, the feeling felt like a fairy tale ending, and Eovaldi was inadvertently at the forefront of it.

What the future holds

As of right now, Eovaldi is a free agent, and CBS Sports reported that the Houston Astros may be interested in the righty. If he were to sign there, it would be a devastating for the Boston Red Sox, especially since he became the backbone of the team in a matter of two or three months. Not to mention, it would be Boston’s AL rivals.

Perhaps the Sox could be hesitant to hand out big bucks to such an inconsistent arm (which is definitely plausible). However, I’d much rather retain a guy who assisted in the process of bringing home a championship over someone like Drew Pomeranz, who didn’t affect the results at all.

Eovaldi undoubtedly outperformed what most expected of him, and as a result, this could become a win-win situation for him. Either he takes the money elsewhere, or decides to stay in the city where fans will praise him for a lifetime. Either way, he’s put himself in the best situation he’s ever been in.

The only question surrounding his current state is age. Eovaldi is 30 years old and has battled Tommy John surgery in the past. Maybe at the end of the day, he was just lucky when October rolled around.

Regardless, the argument about inconsistency is irrelevant, mainly because Price, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Rick Porcello have dealt with their own issues, and still performed at a high level. With the right infrastructure though, success in Boston is imminent, and maybe Eovaldi sees that.

Dombrowski shouldn’t overthink this. Theoretically, $60 million off the cap isn’t a big deal in baseball terms, even for a guy who is approaching his early 30s. It’s a small risk with a high reward. It should be interesting to see how this all unfolds for both Boston, and the righty.

The Grade

SP. Boston Red Sox. NATHAN EOVALDI. A-.

Overall, Eovaldi deserves an A-, especially considering where he was a measly five years ago. His persistence definitely rubbed off on the team and impacted the overall bigger picture. That alone should be enough for him to be in a Boston Red Sox uniform come spring training time.

Next. Assessing Chris Sale's dominance in 2018. dark

In the meantime, the entire MLB will be vying to acquire his infectious energy. We’ll see how far that carries him. Considering where the league is at, that should be far.

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