Eovaldi’s disastrous outing location issue, not tipping pitches, coach believes

BOSTON — A day after Nate Eovaldi allowed five homers in one inning against the Astros, Red Sox pitching coach Dave Bush suggested that the trouble was more pitch location than Eovaldi actually tipping his pitches.

“We looked at the location plot for all of [the homers] and most of them were middle-middle,” Bush said before Wednesday’s series finale with Houston.

Eovaldi allowed 15 homers in 32 starts last year. He’s one away from that total now with 14 through just eight starts.

Given that Eovaldi had been delivering a strong season prior to Tuesday’s outing — a 3.15 ERA in 40 innings through seven starts — Bush downplayed the concern about his starter’s performance against the Astros.

“We’ll try to figure out what we can do better from [Tuesday] night but also not make too much of an issue out of one appearance, when by and large he’s done very well this year,” Bush said.

Manager Alex Cora also downplayed the idea that his starter was tipping pitches.

“We always talk about tipping,”cora said. “But [Nate’s] a strike thrower against a team that does damage early in the count.”

Hernandez on the shelf: The Woosox placed lefthander Darwinzon Hernandez on the seven-day injured list Tuesday with a right MCL sprain. Cora said Wednesday that Hernandez will be out for a while.

The Red Sox optioned Hernandez to Triple A Worcester at the end of spring training with the hope that they could build him up enough to pitch multiple innings for the major league club at some point this year. The Sox also wanted Hernandez to work on his command, which has been an issue for the lefthander, who averaged 7.4 walks per nine innings in parts of three seasons with the Sox.

But Hernandez struggled for the Woosox, posting a 5.95 ERA and walking 16 batters in 19 ⅔ innings.

Despite the numbers, the Sox were encouraged by Hernandez’s progress. Cora alluded to Hernandez’s most recent outing where the lefthander worked three innings, striking out three and yielding three hits. Hernandez did not allow an earned run (one unearned) and walked one just one batter. The Sox felt as if the southpaw was getting close to figuring it all out.

“You see the walks and all that, but as far as the fastball and consistency on his mechanics he was getting there,” Cora said. “Little by little, he was doing an outstanding job. His stuff was picking up.”

Wacha nearing return: The Red Sox plan on activating Michael Wacha (left intercostal soreness) off the 15-day IL for Friday’s matchup against the Mariners. Wacha came out of his two simulated games this week feeling fine, and threw a short bullpen session Wednesday. Wacha was the Sox’ best starter prior to hitting the IL, posting a 1.38 ERA in five starts (26 innings pitched) … Bryan Mata has progressed to throwing in simulated games in his return from Tommy John surgery. The highly-regarded pitching prospect has been clocked at up to 98 mph in his rehab.