3 years agoBoston Red Sox starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi was solid on the mound for 32 starts, winning 11 games with a 3.75 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 25.5 K%, and 4.6 BB%. That led to a 2.79 FIP, the best of his career. His command has been great for two consecutive seasons, following a 3.5 BB% in 2020. This past season, he threw first-pitch strikes 65.3% of the time and had a 47.6 Zone%. Despite the high number of pitches in the strike zone, he didn't get burned much, limiting hard contact (67th percentile for HardHit%), explaining his 3.37 xERA. His HR/FB rate dropped from 20.0% two seasons ago to 8.2% in '21, but his improvement in barrels justifies it, going from 27th percentile to 71st for Barrel%. The right-hander has a five-pitch mix, with his best pitch being the curveball. It has average movement and poor spin, though, still gets the highest Whiff% (39.9%) of all of his offerings. He also has a high-velocity fastball but is a below-par pitch. The biggest change in his 2021 pitch data is the decreased usage of his lackluster cutter and better location of his breaking ball. The main concern with Eovaldi is his strikeouts, which will never be outstanding with below-average whiff rates for the majority of his career. However, he should help in ERA and WHIP and should post at least 11 wins again for a competitive Red Sox team. The floor looks pretty high, and he's worth more than what's expected at his ADP of 123.--Spencer Seguin