It was through a trade that the Red Sox acquired Nathan Eovaldi.
On Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Rays announced that starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi had been traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for pitcher Jalen Beeks.
After missing the whole 2017 season due to Tommy John’s surgery, Eovaldi returned in 2018 with a 3-4 record, 4.26 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 53 strikeouts in 10 starts.
He was released by the New York Yankees two offseasons ago after going 9-8 with a 4.76 ERA and 1.31 WHIP as a starter in 2016.
Before the 2015 season, New York acquired the now-28-year-old righty in a deal with the Miami Marlins. Eovaldi was 14-3 with a.824 won %, a 4.20 ERA, and a 1.45 WHIP to lead the American League.
In the second half of that season, he went 5-1 with a 3.67 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 56.1 innings, but an elbow injury ended his season.
Eovaldi is an enigma, despite being one of the hardest-throwing starting pitchers in Major League Baseball. He has never pitched a full season with a WHIP under 1.30, owing to a lack of pitch movement and deception.
Eovaldi is a streaky pitcher, but he has shown flashes of being a good start this season, and the Rays got a good return in Beeks, who was the No. 15 overall prospect for the Red Sox, according to MLB.com.
