Nathan Eovaldi Gets New Contract With Texas Rangers Years After Flashing Potential With The New York Yankees

Nathan Eovaldi’s brief time with the Yankees essentially ended on the mound at Fenway Park on Aug. 10, 2016 when he exited a start with elbow pain. Three days before Aaron Judge made his thunderous debut, Eovaldi’s elbow pain ultimately became Tommy John surgery and left the Yankees with a sense of unfilled potential as they attempted to shape a new core after playing in one postseason game from 2013 through 2016.

The potential was always there during his two seasons as a Yankee spanning 48 appearances and 4,689 pitches. The potential was unlocked during an moderately successful time with the Red Sox, who acquired him midway through 2018 on the way to a fourth championship since the 86-year drought and saw him highlight his tenure with 11 wins and 195 strikeouts in 182 1/3 innings to help Boston reach the ALCS.

Eovaldi turning his potential into some semblance of effectiveness also led to things like what unfolded late Tuesday night when the right-hander landed with the Texas Rangers on a two-year, $34 million deal that can pay him up to $63 million if a 2025 option is picked up and he reaches certain milestones for innings pitched.

Anyone who followed the 87-win Yankees and the 84-win teams during their transition figured Eovaldi might be a component of the young core emerging late in 2016 and into 2017. He was in his age-25 and age 26-seasons when he tantalized the Yankees at times with no-hit stuff but also inconsistency.

A frequent Eovaldi outing was five or six innings with three runs but there were also times he showcased why the Yankees obtained him in the first place in the same trade that also landed Domingo German from the Marlins.

He flirted with no-hitters a few times and his 14-3 record in 2015 also highlighted the potential. A little over two months before exiting after facing three hitters, he allowed two hits in six-plus innings against the Toronto Blue Jays, who were on their way to a second straight ALCS appearance.

Then there were things like allowing three straight homers which Eovaldi did against a 100-loss Minnesota Twins’ team, the same team he took a perfect game into the seventh against.

Back then, Eovaldi was a hard thrower who often mixed in the splitter and how that pitch was working often dictated how an outing went. It was not quite a notable pitch as the one thrown by Hiroki Kuroda or Masahiro Tanaka with the Yankees but certainly part of his pitch mix.

There’s no way to know if Eovaldi would have evolved into the steady workhorse with the Yankees if there was not any Tommy John surgery in 2017. What he achieved in five-plus seasons with the Red Sox was among the reasons the Yankees may have considered adding him if Carlos Rodon did not take their six-year, $162 million deal last week.

The most notable change in Eovaldi’s evolution from the Yankees to Boston occurred with his curveball. In 2016 his four-seam fastball averaged 97.8 and when he returned with the Rays two years later, it was at 97.2 and by last season it was at 95.7.

The pitch was Eovaldi’s primary option but also being mixed in was a curveball. Eovaldi’s curveball usage was 4.2 percent in his final year with the Yankees and 3.9 in 2018.

By 2019, it increased to 17.5 percent and was at 17 percent in the forgettable (really forgettable for the Red Sox) 2020 pandemic season. It nudged up to 18.8 percent in 2021 and 18.5 percent last season when the split-fingered fastball became his second-most used pitch.

And with each subsequent season, the curveball’s effectiveness improved. Hitters batted .235 against the pitch in 2019 but in the next three seasons, Eovaldi’s curveball held hitters to a .169 mark (38-for-225).

Coming off six straight losing seasons, the Rangers do not need Eovaldi to be as dominant as Jacob deGrom during the times he took the mound for the Mets in the past two seasons. They just need him to be the steadying presence he was in Boston, the version of the pitcher the Yankees hoped they would see before Tommy John surgery interfered.