Nathan Eovaldi looked really, really good Monday afternoon.
Sure, he only pitched two innings against the Minnesota Twins at Charlotte Sports Park, but there is a lot to be optimistic about.
The Red Sox righty dealt with an elbow injury he sustained in April and had to have surgery to remove loose bodies. Boston utilized Eovaldi out of the bullpen upon his return, but he never quite found his groove in 2019.
But any doubts surrounding the pitcher should (at least for now) be put on the back burner after his two-inning outing in which he recorded four strikeouts.
That wasn’t the most impressive statistic, though.
According to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, Eovaldi’s velocity was dominant, even reaching 100mph on back-to-back fastballs.
Not sure of the accuracy of the scoreboard, but Eovaldi just hit 100 on back to back fastballs. But Nelson Cruz lined the second back up the middle and off Eovaldi’s cleat for a single.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) February 24, 2020
Clearly that elbow of his doesn’t seem to be bothering him.
While it’s still early, it’s certainly encouraging to see this kind of performance from the right-hander. And if the Red Sox hope to contend in 2020, they’re going to need Eovaldi to bring this kind of heat each time he takes the mound.
