The Curious Case of Nathan Eovaldi

Before the 2015 season started I was one of the very few to stand up and applaud Brian Cashman for the trade that brought Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Jones to the team for David Phelps and Martin Prado. Don’t get me wrong I loved having Phelps and I loved having Prado on the team but after Shane Greene was traded away I thought the team needed another starting pitcher and I thought Eovaldi was going to be that guy. I quickly donned Eovaldi by the moniker of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Eovaldi” because of his inconsistencies on the mound and he has done nothing to distance himself from the nickname, he’s been consistently inconsistent this season.

Eovaldi has thrown four quality starts this season of at least six innings and three runs or less while he has essentially called in four starts for the Yankees in 2015 allowing four runs or more in a contest. Eovaldi has pitched five innings or less in five of his starts this season while he has given the team more than six innings just five times this season. What's odd is he is second on the team in victories with five while he only has two losses to his credit with the help of six no-decisions in 13 starts. While I understand that Eovaldi is a fourth starter and should essentially be relied upon as so you have to expect a little more out of him after the trade and all the hype that came with him and his loud arm. 

The problem here is the Yankees are stuck with him. You don’t want to move that straight fastball to the bullpen but at the same time you don’t want to waste the occasional gem in an inning or two of work either. He had minor league options remaining but I am about 99% sure that he has enough consecutive years (games wise, not calendar wise) of service time that his options are erased essentially erasing any plans to send him down to Triple-A as well. Eovaldi can’t have much trade value after laying goose eggs in a few starts this season and failing to get out of the first inning leaving him in the Yankees lap as their problem for the rest of this season. What will the Yankees do and how will Eovaldi react to it? That is the curious case of Nathan Eovaldi.