Eovaldi has learned from humiliation
ANAHEIM, Calif. — After being humiliated in Miami four starts ago, Nathan Eovaldi is evolving.
Perhaps the biggest thing he is learning is opposing teams aren’t exactly Murderers’ Row.
Eovaldi is learning how to pitch out of trouble. There is still a long way to go but at least the Yankees righthander has the right idea.
Eovaldi battled his way through 5 ¹/₃ innings Wednesday, not allowing a run, to sneak away with a 31 victory over the Angels at Angel Stadium. He also got some heavy
lifting from lefty reliever Chasen Shreve to escape a basesloaded, oneout jam in the sixth.
The Yankees had lost three straight. The victory was the third straight for Eovaldi, who is pitching coach Larry Rothschild’s pet project this season.
In his return to Miami on June 16, the former Marlin gave up nine hits and eight runs in twothirds of an inning, just a humiliating 122 loss. That was a tremendous teaching moment for Eovaldi and he has learned from that embarrassment. He has focused on getting better. He has focused on the next step forward, not the last failure.
What did he learn from that Miami experience?
“Just try not to do too much,’’ Eovaldi said. “I felt like against the Marlins I was just trying to do too much and a lot of my pitches were middle and my off speed wasn’t as good.’’
The win upped Eovaldi’s record to 82, which is two more wins than he has ever had in a season. He is learning to mix in a splitter and recorded some big outs with it, including a double play to avoid trouble in the fifth.
“The thing that is going to take him to the next level is to see if he can control that split, that third pitch,’’ Alex Rodriguez said. “Speaking from a hitter’s standpoint, it’s devastating.’’
Strong words of encouragement from ARod.
Eovaldi, 25, is one of just five pitchers this season with at least 16 starts and two or fewer losses and this marks the first time in his career he has won three straight starts.
Eovaldi has surrendered only four runs in those three starts and that is the most interesting aspect of those victories.
“My split is a lot better,’’ Eovaldi said. “I was able to make big pitches when I needed them. It’s big not to get swept, especially by these guys. It’s a tight race in our division right now so every win counts.”Rothschild said it’s Eovaldi’s approach that has most impressed him.
“He’s a worker,’’ Rothschild said. “He’s diligent in preparation. He’s a good competitor and he’s got a lot of really good routines. The pitch mix is the biggest thing and he got some enormous ground ball outs with the splitter.’’
Eovaldi was smart enough to walk Mike Trout — who homered in the eighth — and Albert Pujols in the sixth inning. That’s when Joe Girardi went to Shreve with one out and the bases loaded.
Shreve got No. 5 hitter Erick Aybar to pop to shortstop and retired David Freese on a hard grounder to third. Chase Headley buried the throw but Mark Teixeira made a nifty pickup at first.
It also helped that the Angels have little in their lineup after Pujols, their No. 4 hitter. The fact Ay bar has to bat fifth with two home runs and all of 23 RBIs shows how weak the Angels’ lineup really is after Pujols. That second home run for Aybar came Tuesday night against Ivan Nova, following Pujols’ solo blast that carried the Angels to a 21 win.
Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto resigned Wednesday in a power struggle with longtime manager Mike Scioscia. You can be sure it was moves like trading away Howie Kendrick that weakened the Angels lineup — and not just the analytics issue — that caused ill will.
This Angels Rally Monkey isn’t anything like the 2002 world championship version, but give Eovaldi credit. He made big pitches when he had to and that was key.
This was a good start — in many, many ways.