How Nathan Eovaldi Felt About First Start With Red Sox In Over Month

Starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi was back on the mound once again for the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

The hard-throwing right-hander had been sidelined over a month due to a back issue, but made his return in the series opener against the New York Yankees in the Bronx.

Eovaldi, who pitched 4 1/3 innings while allowing three runs, six hits and two walks to go along with four strikeouts, assessed his performance following his lengthy absence after Boston’s 5-4 victory in 11 innings.

“I felt good physically out there,” Eovaldi told repoters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “A few things mechanically still trying to work out and iron out. My fastball was running like a two-seam, which isn’t normal. Overall, I’m really happy with the way I was able to go out there and compete.”

Eovaldi certainly wasn’t his sharpest in his first start back, and his fastball had a dip in velocity with it sitting in the mid-90s instead of it being closer to triple digits. Eovaldi believes he knows what led to that and how to correct the issue.

“I feel like it was just mechanics,” Eovaldi told reporters. “I felt better in the fourth inning. I felt like I was throwing it better and kind of getting on top and driving the ball. But I felt early on, I was flying open a little bit and I think that’s why the ball was running more than it usually does and why my velo was down.”

The three runs Eovaldi surrendered came on one swing of the bat from Giancarlo Stanton, as the right-handed slugger belted a 398-foot home run to put the Yankees in front in the bottom of the third inning.

And even though Eovaldi felt good overall about his showing, the homer from Stanton did put a damper on things.

“I feel like that was the most frustrating part for me of that outing,” Eovaldi said.

The 32-year-old Eovaldi is still having a solid campaign in a contract year as he heads into the All-Star break with a 4-2 record and 3.34 ERA to go with 76 strikeouts in 72 2/3 innings.