Saturday, January 3, 2015

Two Reasons to be Optimistic About 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
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
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?

6 comments:

  1. I will give you two reasons why he will be a bust. First and foremost he may throw hard but he is straight i.e. Kyle Farnsworth and yes I know one is a starter and one a reliever, I a,m just pointing out that throwing hard means squat and lastly he has a bad attitude per numerous reports I read. He doesn't listen to his pitching coach so what makes him listen to Rothschild? A zebra doesn't change spots. A 230 hitter is exactly that and Eovaldi is what his numbers say he is

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  2. You forget how the Yankees and Joe Girardi seemed to "fix" Farnsworth and were actually enjoying a great season from him before trading him for, I believe, Pudge Rodriguez? My point being Farnsworth was worked with and made better, not elite, and the same could happen for Eovaldi. Again, better not elite.

    It's worth mentioning, whether it matters or not, that Eovaldi was playing behind one of the worst defenses in all of MLB with Miami with one of the worst defensive and game calling catchers in all of MLB with Jarrod Saltalamachia. I don't know much about Miami's pitching coach so I cannot comment on that but I'm going to take a guess and say he wouldn't be ranked in the top 10 best. Rothschild would though.

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  3. ERA has nothing do do with D and he did give up the most hits in the league. Dude he is as flat as 20 day old seltzer in his fastball

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    1. True with the fastball being like a shoot but, believe it or not, a small adjustment with the fingers, can and will get movement.
      As I have never seen him pitch, I don't know if he pitches with max energy or not. But in Koufax, we had a guy throwing as hard as he could (max effort) with help from a pitching coach, he slowed down a bit, got movement and was the best in the world for a few years...of course, his breaking ball, helped a lot!
      As I said, I have never seen him pitch at all, so maybe he can adapt, and then, maybe not! If not, he will spend his life, bouncing around the league, going nowhere fast!

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  4. I mentioned it before on this site, and I'll mention it again. I am not a follower of the National League, but my Dad is. He has seen Eavoldi pitch, I have not. He says the Yankees got the better end of this deal, and I believe him. He said with a little maturity, Eavoldi could be a front of the rotation type starter.

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    1. Thank your dad for us Jeff, this is good news from one that has seen him pitch...your DAD! Be sure to thank him for us/me, and tell him to drop us a line on any of the NL players we sign, or just to tell us, "we ain't got no learnens, a tal"! LOL
      Thanks again!

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)