It is now known where free agent pitcher Nathan Eovaldi will be playing baseball in 2023. At least to start the year.
It was announced Wednesday that Nathan Eovaldi, who has spent each of the last five seasons as a member of the Boston Red Sox, would be joining Team USA for the World Baseball Classic this coming March. Eovaldi’s participation will come alongside Trevor Story, who he was teammates with on the Red Sox in 2022.
Eovaldi went 6-3 with a 3.87 ERA in 2022, striking out 103 batters in 109 1/3 innings pitched. Headed into free agency the Red Sox extended a qualifying offer to the 322-year-old, though he turned it down and elected free agency. The market hasn’t been red hot for Eovaldi, though the New York Yankees have emerged as a contender to sign him for 2023 and beyond.
The WBC is returning this winter following a five-year hiatus. The 2023 event will be hosted in Taichung, Taiwan, Tokyo, Phoenix and Miami, with the tournament qualifiers taking place in Sept. 2022 and the pool tournament taking place in March 2023.
The United States won the 2017 WBC, with former Red Sox players Andrew Miller, Jonathan Lucroy and Ian Kinsler playing on the team — though none of those players were on their roster at the time of the tournament. Xander Bogaerts represented Boston for Team Netherlands in 2017.
