Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Pineda Ready to Be Young 2015 Breakout Duo?
March 18, 2015 · Jacob Shafer · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
There’s been plenty of hand-wringing about the New York Yankees‘ starting five, including by yours truly, and it’s (mostly) justified.
Masahiro Tanaka is pitching with a partially torn elbow ligament, and CC Sabathia packed on weight after limping through last season with a knee injury.
The Yankees, though, could get a boost from Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Pineda, two young arms who have excelled this spring.
Yes, it’s early. And yes, spring stats are close to meaningless. But Eovaldi and Pineda have turned enough heads to give the Yankee faithful cause for cautious optimism.
Let’s start with Eovaldi, who came over this winter in a swap with the Miami Marlins that sent Martin Prado to South Beach.
There’s a lot to like about the right-hander, including a fastball that frequently touches the high 90s. There are also red flags.
Despite his impressive heater and solid command—he issued just 43 walks in 199.2 innings last year—Eovaldi gave up a National League-leading 223 hits to go along with a 4.37 ERA. And his 142 strikeouts ranked 65th in baseball.
“That’s one of the big issues I’ve had,” Eovaldi said this spring, per Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, “not being able to finish the batters off.”
That isn’t merely talk, as Katie Sharp of It’s About the Money points out:
More than one-third (33.8 percent) of Eovaldi’s pitches with two strikes were thrown in the vertical middle-third of the zone (i.e. belt-high) last season, well above the league-average rate of 27 percent. Throwing that many pitches right down the middle of the plate allowed opponents to hit .230 against Eovaldi with two strikes, tied for the second-highest mark given up by any qualifying starter.
OK, now for the optimism. First, there’s Eovaldi’s spring line (to be taken with the obligatory grain of salt): 9 IP, 1 ER, 9 SO, 0 BB.
Eovaldi began working on a splitter late last season, as Feinsand notes. If he can hone the pitch while in pinstripes, it could give him the put-away weapon he’s been lacking.
There’s also the fact that he’s teaming with a new catcher, Brian McCann, a point Sharp highlights.
McCann was the 11th-best pitch-framer in the game last season, per StatCorner. Meanwhile, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Eovaldi’s primary receiver in Miami, ranked last.
“I take pride in trying to get better,” Eovaldi told MLB.com‘s Adam Berry. “You don’t want to stay the same.”
Pineda would surely echo that sentiment. The big right-hander has shown flashes of brilliance since the Yankees acquired him in 2012, but he missed two seasons after undergoing shoulder surgery and was slapped last year with a 10-game suspension for illegal use of pine tar.
That, plus a back injury, limited Pineda to just 13 starts in 2014, but he made the most of them, posting a 1.89 ERA and 0.825 WHIP.
He’s dealing in the Grapefruit League, allowing one hit and no runs in five innings with six strikeouts. And he’s emerging as a leader in the clubhouse too, per Kevin Kernan of the New York Post:
Pineda is a difference maker. He is as valuable to the Yankees as Matt Harvey is to the Mets.
Pass his locker early in the morning here and many of the young Latin players are there, asking for Pineda’s advice. He is more confident in his own abilities, too, in better shape than in past years and has a zest for the game that is uplifting to teammates.
Some may balk at the Harvey comparison, and Pineda will have to prove his bona fides over a 162-game season.
But this type of positive chatter, and these promising early results, bode well for the Bombers—now and into the future.
On a team dominated by fading, high-priced vets, the 26-year-old Pineda and 25-year-old Eovaldi look like genuine building blocks. (You could also add 28-year-old Ivan Nova, who’s working his way back from Tommy John surgery.)
“The Yankees are rebuilding in a way,” Eovaldi said, per Feinsand. “A lot of guys are leaving, and we’re starting to get a lot more of the younger guys coming in here, too.”
Then he said eight words that should reverberate from Florida to the Bronx: “It’s exciting to be part of the Yankees.”
All statistics current as of March 17 and courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com.
Read more New York Yankees news on BleacherReport.com
Yankee Tickets
Shop Yankee
