The curveball is the only pitch in his repertoire that Eovaldi hasn’t allowed a home run on this season, which is no surprise considering only one of his home runs last year was hit against his curve. Working with a five-pitch arsenal allows Eovaldi to keep opposing hitters off balance but some pitches aren’t working for him so far this season. His issues appear to stem from locating certain pitches inside the zone. Each of those metrics would easily be the worst of his career.Įovaldi hasn’t had a notable dip in velocity and his low walk rate proves his command hasn’t abandoned him. Eovaldi ranks in the 16th percentile with a 49.2% Hard Hit rate, the 15th percentile with a 91.7 mph average exit velocity and the 9th percentile with a 14.8% Barrel rate, per Baseball Savant. How is it that in a season where power numbers are on the decline across the league, Eovaldi has suddenly become prone to surrendering home runs?Ī review of his Statcast data shows some concerning trends. Despite improving his strikeout-to-walk ratio, the surge in home runs inflated his FIP to 5.60, well above his more appealing ERA. Eovaldi’s 0.74 HR/9 was the fourth-best among qualified major league starters last season but his 2.91 HR/9 is currently the second-highest. His excellent strike-to-walk ratio was a significant factor in producing a low FIP, as was his elite home run rate. The case for Eovaldi’s Cy Young award candidacy was built primarily on a 2.79 FIP that was the best among qualified American League starters last season. His 3.32 ERA would also be a career-best. Strikeout rate and walk rate are two categories that Eovaldi was among the elite in last year and he’s currently on pace for the best marks of his career with a 10.0 K/9 and 1.2 BB/9. He didn’t allow his seventh home run until July 31 last season but he’s already reached that total before escaping April. The home run by Chapman, which came with two outs in the seventh inning, was a rocket to left center field that traveled 422 feet with an exit velocity of 107.2 mph.Įovaldi has now allowed a major league-leading seven home runs through four starts, an uncharacteristic trend for a pitcher who allowed only 15 in 32 starts last year. Unfortunately, both runs scored on solo homers by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. That’s the type of line we’ve come to expect from Eovaldi. He struck out five without allowing a walk and gave up only two earned runs. Nasty Nate was brilliant against a loaded Toronto Blue Jays lineup on Monday, requiring only 72 pitches to cruise through seven innings. Eovaldi is coughing up home runs at an alarming rate. In many ways, he’s following up his career year with an even better season, with one notable exception.
Nathan Eovaldi had a breakout season in 2021 to establish himself as the ace of the Boston Red Sox rotation.
The long ball has plagued Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi this season
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