ICYMI: Sandy Koufax, Roy Halladay and Nathan Eovaldi

There are probably more than just two reasons to be optimistic about a young 24 year old flame throwing starting pitcher but I had to very big reasons come to me and I felt compelled to share. I was watching an old "Prime 9" episode on MLB Network the other day at some insane hour in the middle of the night and it was showcasing something to do with starting pitching, I don't remember the list, and throughout the episode the crew mentioned Sandy Koufax and Roy Halladay. Okay before Dodgers, Phillies, Blue Jays and MLB fans in general begin to remove their bookmark for the site and unfollow us on Twitter hear me out. I'm not comparing the two I am merely showing you that it's not unheard of for a fire baller to find his control late and harness it en route to a great MLB career.

Eovaldi has a career 15-35 record with 4.07 ERA in 79 starts. While Eovaldi led the league in hits allowed in 2014 his stuff, the "stuff" you cannot teach, is there and undeniable and possibly just a Larry Rothschild tweak or two away from making him a legit #1 starting pitcher for years to come. Why am I so optimistic you ask and how does Koufax and Halladay fit in? Glad you asked, read on.

Look at Koufax's first six seasons in the majors on a pretty good Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers teams:

Year	Age	W	L	ERA	G	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	HR9	BB9	SO9
1955	19	2	2	3.02	12	2	41.2	33	15	14	2	28	30	136	3.64	1.464	0.4	6.0	6.5
1956	20	2	4	4.91	16	0	58.2	66	37	32	10	29	30	82	5.05	1.619	1.5	4.4	4.6
1957	21	5	4	3.88	34	2	104.1	83	49	45	14	51	122	106	3.39	1.284	1.2	4.4	10.5
1958	22	11	11	4.48	40	5	158.2	132	89	79	19	105	131	93	4.38	1.494	1.1	6.0	7.4
1959	23	8	6	4.05	35	6	153.1	136	74	69	23	92	173	105	4.04	1.487	1.4	5.4	10.2
1960	24	8	13	3.91	37	7	175.0	133	83	76	20	100	197	101	3.49	1.331	1.0	5.1	10.1

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Now let's look at Halladay's first four seasons in his career:

Year	Age	W	L	ERA	G	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	HR9	BB9	SO9
1998	21	1	0	1.93	2	1	14.0	9	4	3	2	2	245	3.57	0.786	1.3	1.3	8.4
1999	22	8	7	3.92	36	1	149.1	156	76	65	19	79	125	5.36	1.574	1.1	4.8	4.9
2000	23	4	7	10.64	19	0	67.2	107	87	80	14	42	48	6.47	2.202	1.9	5.6	5.9
2001	24	5	3	3.16	17	1	105.1	97	41	37	3	25	145	2.34	1.158	0.3	2.1	8.2

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Again I don't think Eovaldi is Halladay or Koufax and I don't think he will have the longevity and successful career that those two players had. I am saying that it has happened before and it can happen again. Hallday taught his teachings to AJ Burnett and saved and extended his career and if Burnett could be saved then why not Eovaldi?