Three-quarters of the way through his first season in New York Nathan Eovaldi has shown more than promise, he’s shown progress. And it’s been fun to watch because I naturally find it easy to be extra critical of him. Initially, he was easy to root against. Every time I saw Eovaldi out there I expected him to implode. He’s a big, hulking guy and bears a physical resemblance to Carl Pavano. That’s probably it. But then you hear him in interviews and he’s a quiet, soft-spoken guy. Hard to get any sense of him but he doesn’t come across as a big jerk that’s for sure.
Unlike Pavano, he’s not a clod. Eovaldi is adept at pick-off throws, excellent at keeping baserunners from stealing–the announcers say he’s got good feet. His fastball–which touches 100+–his newly-developed splitter, his stuff, is tantalizing. Reminds me of AJ Burnett, the proverbial million-dollar-arm-ten-cent-head, the guy who never fully realizes his great promise (though, of course, Burnett has been a terrific older pitcher). And yet there is something passive about Eovaldi. He doesn’t have that thing that Matt Harvey has, the poise and aggression of a great pitcher.
So you have to wonder–is Eovaldi just a great arm or is he going to be a stud?
Well, he doesn’t often pitch deep into games and for all his stuff doesn’t strike a lot of guys out, but since getting bombed in Miami back in the middle of June, he’s been decent. Better than decent, he’s been good. Last two starts, against two potent offenses (Twins, Astros), he’s been especially good. Let’s hope for more of the same today.
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B
Nathan Eovaldi P
Never mind the chanting:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
One might say Eovoldi is "eovolving"
[1] Har. It's an Eovolution!
Let's hope the Bomber Bats are revolutionary rather than revolting today.
Unfortunately, I gotta go to bed. Looking forward to reading the thread in about 7 hours. Night-all.
Watching the ATL feed. So far no mention of yesterday's tragedy.
[4] It was mentioned on YES. : (
Wait. We didn't score any runs in the first inning? Not cool. We did come close...
Of course, the blow jays already have 4 runs. Jesus.
The flag is at half mast and the braves held a moment of silence before first pitch.
I read an article on the guy. He seemed pretty great. Been sittin I the upper deck at braves games for 23 years. Big time family guy. Really tragic : (
That bunt didn't turn out well.
Me!
Sweet!
rbj!!!
6-0 now for the blow jays.
[12] it's insane.
Good work, Nathan.
The bigger they are the harder they'll fall. Fuck the blue jays.
I always thought the worst thing in modern baseball was the awarding of the Cy Young to a pitcher with a one game won loss spread. Nate is 13 and 2. So he gets run support and has an elevated era. Who cares? They don't give the win to the football team with the most first downs. Pitching to the scoreboard saves walks and limits pitch counts. More hurlers should do it.
My rant for the day. Go Yanks!
Atta boy, Chase!
hell yeah, chase!!!
he's been loving center field at the ted this weekend : )
Chase joins the party!
Drew too!
DREW!!!
a multi-hit game and #16. just how he drew it up : )
he crushed it!
Kaboom!
Do we want the Mets to win today so the Sox won't feel too good going home?
[23] sure. always nice to see the shit sox lose! : )
eo - it's the pitcher. throw strikes!
nice play, bird.
whew.
vivaldi was mad.
huh.
damn walks.
I hate A.J. Pieceofshit.
This is not good.
nice stab, stephen. he's a two-way player!
The singles don't bother me. The walks bother me.
[32] yup.
Still, I love baroque, so I'm giving him a pass.
[34] well played. a lot of notes.
nathan is what i call a "year-round" pitcher.
that was ball 4, jake.
damn you, markakis. that was some rip...
Hmm, indeed.
Do you like Scarlatti, by the way? I have a feeling you do. He's a fave of mine.
another nice cut and another nice catch.
[38] nathan can pitch in all four seasons.
i don't know a whole lot of scarlatti and don't seem to have his music in my collection. he was mentioned in school when i studied classical music and i'm sure i dug it. he was the rare baroque composer to transition into the classical period. i need to check out his sonatas.
i guess they tailor made that trivia question for me.
a-rod is the other current guy. i've written articles on this stuff! : )
just a few minutes ago, i was looking up possible 20-20 seasons for this year. goldy is already there.
Scarlatti is crunchy. That's why I like him. He's way crunchy ahead of his time.
There has never been a MLBaseball player named 'Scarlatti'. But of course, there are many Dominicans!
Heh, funny, they aren't exactly whacking Teheran around.
Oooh, if they had I could have said, "This is what Ronald Reagan wanted to do to Teheran."
But that would have been bad taste, so good thing I never said it.
Oooh, nice little rbi for Drew.
I'll take that.
Well, the hitting coaches can talk to him all they want, but you can't Telemann how to hit.
Whoa.
Geez, that was not a bad stroke.
Dang, almost a hit.
[42] Scarlatti and baseball, is that like politics and poker?
[49] Robert Preston
Looks like Eovo is heading for another 6th inning exit.
[49] Actually, Tom Bosley, Mr. C. from Happy Days starred as Fiorello LaGuardia in the musical "Fiorello." La Guardia was short. Kind of like the runways at the airport bearing his name.
[42] except he was Domenico.
[50] My (obscure?) reference was to "Music Man," starring Preston singing "Politics and Poker."
I actually saw Bosley in "Fiorello" on Broadway.
Very ungood.
not cool, nate.
really? wtf was that?! : /
Yeesh
jesus christ.
This is pissing me off.
Suzyn you something different every day. A center fielder's throw hits 2nd base?
Naturally
From the sublime to the ridiculous in a matter of moments.
catch the fucking ball, people.
Nice try, Brett.
I hate markakas
i'm surprised we got an out there.
please get out of this with no further damage.
Gardner is batting poorly, way too many balls in the air. Please don't take it to the field.
Phew, so far.
whew.
my heart skipped a beat.
now, strike him out.
Whew
[1] like that!
New to this game. No worries? Even if Freddie the Freeloader ties it, the Yanks will come back.
ooh. that shoulda been strike 3. kinda.
dammit.
Tying run on base.
Bullshit.
exhale.
Finally
That was one clusterfuck of a 6th inning. Oi!
A.J.! Couldn't happen to a "nicer" guy...asswipe.
wait. that hit him? good acting!
Is Drew back over .200 now?
Does that take Drew over the mendoza line?
another hit for drew!
a-rod for his *grand* entrance?!
Are there ANY Braves fans at the game?
C'mon Alex. Add to the record.
[81] .199
those are some numbers w/ bases loaded. wow.
c'mon, alex - big hit!!!
Word!
ALEX!!!
double digits - again!!!
FUCK YEAH
nice piece o' hitting.
Double digits!
[85] Can't catch a break.
Nice. Perhaps he needed a couple of days off.
Damn, I left for about five minutes. Good!
What is amazing...Arod has 100 career RBIs hitting grand slams.
just saw that yangervis solarte hit his 11th homer today. good on him!
[93] that is amazing!
Gardy could use a hit.
yay!
a-rod getting a standing ovation coming off the field for a pinch runner. i loves it!
There you go. Braves announcer: the "relentless yankee offense."
McCann only starter w/o a hit.
beli with his 3rd hit of the day.
squib cakes!
infield hit for Carlos. Now I've seen everything.
a baker's dozen!
and Mac has a hit.
Guess he got his hit!
beautiful piece of hitting!
ooh, i wanted 15 and a 10-run differential.
this is FUN!!!
Stop the fight! Lol...
Is there a back up catcher on the Yankee bench to pitch the last 9 outs?
i really want both runners to score here.
oh, hell YEAH!!!
Amazing!
I almost feel sorry for the Braves. Almost.
Fuck the Blue Jays. We're a scoring machine.
i strongly feel that the yankees should play in atlanta more regularly!
[110] i don't...in the slightest. not one iota!
I don't care how you Brigham, but Brigham runs.
there's another walk for didi.
There's .200!
From the ridiculous to the sublime.
Drew MUST be over 200 now
drew is 4-4 with 4 rbi, 3 runs, and a walk. more importantly, he's batting...
.201
i wish i were at the game!
How often does a pinch runner get to hit . . . in the same inning he pinch ran. Never saw that before.
So the pinch runner gets to bat in the same inning. Suzyn you don't see that every day!
Brigham-Young matchup
[122] nice!
Drew-Hundred!
[38] RI - this is really great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcsRl_LIJHA
So both the Braves and the Tigers have given up this season, we can score 20 just like the Jays against non-combatants.
ugh. i hate when we start giving up runs in garbage time.
think about the run diff!
That 15-1 loss didn't help,
[125]I play it slower.
i do not dig brandon pinder.
throw strikes. it's the fucking pitcher at bat. jeez.
[129] but your hair still falls in your face, right?
why is mac still catching? give the guy a breather...
There are two definitions of "pinder"
Urban dictionary...one who urinates on others for no apparent reason"
Websters... "one who impounds stray animals".
ok, fuck it. now i want TWENTY runs!!
Big Op for Big Bird...
chai!
Pinder get a hit!
Okay, now I feel sorry for the Braves.
The Urinator!!!
well, shit. now, we *really* have to get to 20!
[139] i do not.
Come on, Didi, I want to score a score!
TWENTY!!
Tewnty!
Damn, Pinder has one hell of an OPS now.
hits for both teams: 21-12
where's dianagram?!
Didi did it!
Oh fuck off, I am not posting too quickly.
another walk for drew. perfect day for the true yankee!
Yes, pitch around the mighty Stephen Drew
Drew might end the game at 201... if he doesn't get up again.
ha! i have a comment awaiting moderation.
i had one last request: that we reach 21 - i typed out the card game name and word press didn't like that. how did they know i wasn't referring to the Donald Byrd album on Blue Note?
[148] i thought that was gonna happen to me too! instead they got me on a technicality. see [152]
byrd also had an album called royal fl*sh. (just in case...)
well, still one more inning to score one more run.
i'll only be slightly disappointed if we don't reach the drinking age.
Oh, yeah, Wordpress is really paranoid about things like that. Anything that smells like gambling.
[151] or everyone's favorite old school gum?
i hate football, but we're up by two TDs and each team has missed an extra point.
Also very skittish about a certain type of medication that spammers talk about a lot. You know you can't say here that someone is a lefty speci**list?
Wtf!
mac is at 1b. woulda been cool to see a-rod there.
oh, c'mon man. don't issue a leadoff walk. god fucking dammit! : /
godalmighty.
JUST THROW STRIKES.
Okay, don't just remove him from the game, send him out into the street, never to return.
jesus christ. asshole. let ryan pitch. brendan, not lavarnway. that would be weird. like his last name. MOT, right, RI?
Back to hating Pinder.
Right!
But, I'm glad there's a Brave who's a tribesman. Makes sense.
[164] yup.
[165] good point.
nice catch, rbj. i'd be very unhappy if the bravos were knocking on the doorstep of double digits.
scary flyballs from The Urinator.
But that's okay. Make them hit it, and we'll catch most of them. Only the BBs are inexcusable.
So Johnny Gomes's 18.00 ERA is looking pretty good! They should have had him pitch. He could have had a CG and kept the Yanks below 20.
i wonder if gritner (SC) grew up a braves fan...
Glad Drew didn't come to bat again. Why ruin such a nice day for him?
ok. i guess i have to settle for 20 runs.
it's also high time i admit something to you guys. the score truck has been parked in my driveway the past coupla weeks in anticipation of the pinstripers coming to my adopted city.
[171] well, the 'error' charged to him was bollocks.
Good to see Mitchell back out there. And he handles the comebacker!
ooh, gotta be a bit scary for mitchell.
nice play, kid!
Mitchell grabs this time. Thank goodness
two down.
bethancourt with a lower average than drew!
ballgame.
SWEEP!!!
Nice game!
Fun game.
Good win -- they're all good.
Nicely done.
A fine game
Some yakker wrote that this was the worst destruction of Atlanta by the Yankees since 1864.