Part Of Yankees' Youth Movement, Eovaldi Faces Steep Learning Curve In AL East
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There are projects and then there's the curious case of Nathan Eovaldi.
Through their actions during an otherwise underwhelming offseason, the Yankees made it no secret that they first and foremost wanted to get younger. It's not like anyone would blame them considering the number of older players with bloated contracts they tend to have year after year.
With the exception of shortstop Didi Gregorius (24 years old), who fills the one glaring hole among position players, the Yankees concentrated on getting younger on the mound, adding lefty reliever Justin Wilson (27), right-hander Chris Martin (28), lefty reliever Andrew Miller (29), and righty reliever David Carpenter (29), in addition to inviting a ton of potential low-risk, high-reward players to spring training.
But their most intriguing acquisition may have been Eovaldi. The big right-hander, who will turn 25 on Friday, came over along with first baseman Garrett Jones and pitching prospect Domingo German in the November trade with Miami, for right-hander David Phelps and infielder Martin Prado.
Eovaldi is the definition of potential. He stands 6-foot-2, weighs 215 pounds and can bring his fastball close to 100 mph. He fits into the Yankees' recent trend of stockpiling hard-throwing starting pitchers. Just look at Michael Pineda and Masahiro Tanaka. When healthy in 2014, they were hardly the reason the Bombers' missed the playoffs for the second straight season.
Eovaldi has plenty of physical tools, but with the Marlins last season he took his lumps, going 6-14 with a 4.37 ERA in 33 starts. He also allowed a league-high 223 hits in 199 2/3 innings.
"I had ups and downs," Eovaldi told the New York Post on Wednesday at the Yankees' minor league complex in Tampa, Fla. "I accomplished a lot that I wanted to. I stayed healthy and got a lot of innings under my belt. I controlled my walks, but my ERA was a lot higher than I'd like it to have been. And I gave up too many hits."
Though he's being thrust into the big-bat AL East after struggling in the light-hitting NL East, Eovaldi can take some solace in the fact that the Yankees, specifically pitching coach Larry Rothschild, turned around a wildly inconsistent Brandon McCarthy after he was acquired from Arizona last summer. McCarthy, who went on to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers during the offseason, turned into one of the Yankees' most reliable starters, so it stands to reason the Bombers will do their best to figure out how to get the most out of Eovaldi's big right arm. The first order of business likely will be to figure out a way to turn him into more of a power pitcher. He showed solid command last season, but struck out only 142.
"They're (developing) and getting a lot more younger guys," Eovaldi said of the Yankees. "There's still a lot of experience here and a lot to learn."
As for playing in the Bronx, perhaps the closest thing to the polar opposite of Miami that one will find, Eovaldi said he's going to go into the 2015 season with his eyes wide open.
"I know the fans are either gonna love you or hate you," Eovaldi said. "It depends on how you do, how you perform … Every game means something."
And with the Yankees having plenty of question marks in their rotation -- everyone from Tanaka (elbow fears) and Pineda (back and shoulder injuries last season) to veteran CC Sabathia (season-ending knee surgery) and eventually Ivan Nova (on his way back following Tommy John surgery), Eovaldi could at the very least be in position to make the most of this opportunity.