Nathan Eovaldi has suffered a setback in his recovery from elbow surgery, tweets Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe. Eovaldi is experiencing bicep soreness that caused his latest bullpen session to be pushed back.
Eovaldi had been on track to make a mid-June return to the Boston rotation after being tagged with a four-to-six-week recovery timetable from his April 22 elbow surgery. Abraham had previously reported that Eovaldi might return as early as June 15th, though it now seems unlikely that he will be able to meet that target date. At this juncture, it’s unclear just how long the latest setback will keep Eovaldi out of action, but there is undoubtedly some cause for concern for the Red Sox, who have struggled to find a stable replacement for Eovaldi in his absence.
It is perhaps notable that it’s a bicep issue rather than an elbow complication, since the surgery was needed to remove loose bodies in Eovaldi’s elbow. Whether that is a good or bad sign is subject to speculation, but this latest development is certainly frustrating for the Red Sox, who invested heavily in Eovaldi, rewarding his late-season heroics with a four-year, $68MM contract last winter.
His club has yet to see any real return on that investment, as the right-hander has been able to make just four starts this season and has posted a 6.00 ERA in that time. To be sure, it’s premature to draw conclusions from just four games, and Eovaldi has plenty of time to make good on the lucrative contract he earned. Nonetheless, the third-place Red Sox could use the fireballing righty sooner than later, and his extensive injury history is not particularly inspiring at present.
No way was he worth that contract.
Everyone ever would trade that deal for a ring, which is ultimately what the Red Sox got. Eovaldi’s probably better used as a closer.
Agreed. For some reason there was a delay and your post Strike Force wasn’t there when I commented below. He’s a team player and got his money so even next year if the doctors clear him to close, it would strengthen the team big time.
For that money they could have resigned Kimbrel. They already got their ring. They didn’t need to resign him
Kimbrel wart’s are going to show in Chicago. You paid for the old Kimbrel which he is not.
I didn’t pay at all for him. Also everyone forgets there are two teams in Chicago. I’m a Sox fan
Is there?
Kimbrel had one amazing season in Boston. Other two years he got opportunities by default as until September both Kelly and Barnes were even more inconsistent than him. His October was so brutal that Cora had to gamble the starters’ health and pitch them in relief. At what Kimbrel signed for, I would have inked him too. No team though was getting him in December at that price and the team moved on.
There is
Did you see Kimbrel pitch during the second half of last season? He made games exciting which is not a trait you want in a closer. His second half numbers gave no impression of him being a steady and stable arm in the bullpen.
Then there was the post season. In his two appearances against the yankees he allowed runs both times to allow the game to become a one-run game, His numbers against the Astros and Dodgers were not improvements either.
The Red Sox bullpen may not be good now but I do not believe Kimbrel could have been an improvement.
Not really. They signed him AFTER winning it all. But…I get it. I felt it was too many years and too much guaranteed as soon as the ink dried. But that’s the risk teams take when pitching is so thin in FA.
The deal didn’t get the Red Sox a ring. It was the mid season trade to got the Red Sox a win.
Most on MLBTR made easy prediction on this deal, we all knew that it was not good spend of money. Eovaldi is not great pitcher. He is great thrower. Not same thing.
Relies on heat, not craftiness. Always recipe for injury, short but high peak.
Red Sox paid twice for juice they drank up yesterday. This is Dombrowski biggest weakness. He allow or maybe encourage management to give emotion money instead of making the prudent decisions that can sustain a dynasty. Track record at Marlin, Tiger, and now Sox has for our proof.
Track record? WS wins in FL and Boston. ALCS in Detroit. Pretty good record to me. He was forced to dismantle the Marlins and had to have a win now mentality in Detroit due to the owner’s declining health and mandate to win while he was alive. Today is the real test the way the game has changed both on field and financially. He will always trade tomorrow’s diamond in the rough for today’s perceived polished jewels. Let’s also remember while the Hanley and Panda contracts hurt, he also benefitted with the young blood the team had in place when he took over. Last place finishes in 2012, 2014 and 2015 allowed the team to rebuild quickly (combined with big market money). Give him credit for not trading most of what he had. He kept Devers over Moncada. Clearly the Shaw trade sucked but Shaw was an over achiever and the issue to me was the other players weren’t needed. The Sale and Kimbrel trades turned out to be winners so let’s give him time and evaluate after 2021.
….and had Dombrowski not gone after Hanley and Panda, Bosox fans would have wondered what he was waiting for. When winning is done there will always be a terrible contract or two.
Both Hanley and Pablo were signed in 2014, Dombrowski became GM in 2015
Given the financial commitment, don’t rush him back.
had about enough of the back issues, tightness, spasms, soreness, etc – figure it out
Eovaldi makes sense as closer. He needs to have his command when he returns from the DL! If he does, he’s the logical closer, especially with his personality. The other relievers all seem overwhelmed by the job.
Next we need to trade for MADBUM. I think his personality will be good for the clubhouse and he’s a stud. He will be highly motivated and that might rub off on the complacent team that hosts games at Fenway.
Our offense needs another spark. MADBUM would be good for team morale but we still need a bat that electrifies things like Chavis did late April. The scary part about this year is that we spent April with JD being the only guy hitting. Then Chavis came up and got things going then Devers started hitting. But somehow this year Betts and Benny are MIA.
We need Betts and Benny to hit. Bogey has done a nice job, Vasquez is way beyond anything we could have hoped for and JBJ is doing his annual ‘wait til June” hitting. Holt is back and he adds a spark but we have nothing comparable to Pearce last year and we are missing the clutch performances from Betts and Benny. Moreland looks to be gone for a while so we need a spark plug bat right now.
Now here is the good news!!!! All we have to do is beat Texas and Cleveland for the second wildcard spot, score 4 runs for Sale in the wildcard game and then go after the Minnesota Twins while the Astros go head to head with Tampa. No matter how badly we have played, we still are in contention!! It’s insane but true. Hopefully we can improve enough to lock down the second spot because nothing would make a bad year feel so much better than beating the Yankees in a one game wildcard challenge!!
Yes, I’m wearing rose colored glasses!! But it’s doable!
Who are you trading for madbum. Your farm is arguably the worst in baseball
Depending on how things go from now until the All-Star break, I would consider a soft sell if I am Boston. Every expiring contract becomes available (Pearce, Porcello, Nunez, Moreland). I’m sure there are other players. Then they’d need to get creative in the offseason to bolster pitching without breaking the bank. A very tough take. They still have a winning window in 2020 if injuries and other factors derail 2019.