Nate Eovaldi is sticking to what he knows, and it seems to be working.
The Red Sox pitcher has been productive this season for Boston with a 10-7 record and 3.92 ERA. He’s been a solid addition since coming to the Red Sox in 2018, plus, no one will forget his performance in the 18-inning marathon that was Game 3 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
But over the past three seasons, Eovaldi hasn’t tried to learn new pitches or add anything to arsenal of his five existing pitches.
In fact, he just “redefines” them.
“I haven’t learned any new pitches since (coming to the Red Sox in 2018), but I’ve kind of redefined them and sharpened them up a little bit,” Eovaldi said, via The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t shy away from pitches. I don’t have one pitch where I have to use it in one count.”
Check out this excerpt from Speier, which outlines perfectly what Eovaldi said.
He has a baseline pitch that he can command to spots — and most importantly, the top of the zone (fastball). He works to both edges of the plate with his cutter. He spins his slider off the plate for chases by righties, works below the zone with a high-velocity offering (splitter), and disrupts timing by throwing a curveball both in and out of the zone.
That’s certainly impressive.
Eovaldi looks to continue to work his pitches Tuesday when he takes the hill for Game 2 of the Red Sox’s doubleheader against the New York Yankees.
