One of the genius moves Dave Dombrowski made at the trade deadline was to acquire more starter pitching depth. And that he did. Nathan Eovaldi has been an overall very solid addition to this Red Sox pitching staff. At the time he was traded to Boston, he had a 4.26 ERA. He was just recently coming off of an ugly start against the Minnesota Twins, giving up eight earned runs and nine hits in only 2.2 innings. Not very good. And who was his first scheduled start for the Red Sox against? Those very same Minnesota Twins. 

Sweet Payback

Except this time he was going to be on the Fenway Park mound. So what would Eovaldi do his first time back up against the Twins? Throw seven shutout innings giving up only four hits while striking out five. His next start would be against the Yankees, once again at Fenway. He would throw eight shutout innings this time, giving up only three hits and striking out eight. After a rough start in Baltimore, he would get it back on track against the Phillies on Wednesday night. Eolavdi hurled five solid innings, giving up one earned run on seven hits, while striking out five. He would get his ERA down to 3.62 on the year. 

Postseason Rotation

Now here’s the thing about Nathan Eovaldi. He’s a solid starter no doubt, especially for depth. He can give you a good chance to win most days. He can remain a part of this rotation until the postseason. However, after the regular season, he can still pitch. Just not inhis current role.  Right now, the postseason rotation looks like it a three-man with Sale, Porcello, Price. Although that leaves guys like Erod and Eovaldi out,  it does not keep them from pitching. 

The Red Sox should put Nathan Eovaldi in the long reliever role. He would be a perfect guy to come in if a starter flames out early. He can also pitch the innings leading up to Kimbrel at the back end, or even pitch the final three outs if the game isn’t in a save situation. 

With the trend  in the postseason, you must have some reliable arms in your bullpen if you want to go all the way. And having a guy like Nathan Eovaldi in your back pocket can certainly be a dangerous weapon come playoff time. So keep him in the rotation for now, but once October comes around, Eovaldi will be a bullpen weapon.