The New York Yankees’ quietly good offseason continued Friday, as the team acquired right-handed pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, first baseman Garrett Jones and right-handed pitching prospect Domingo German from the Miami Marlins, according to Marc Carig of Newsday.
Heading to the Miami Marlins in the deal will be Martin Prado, who the Yankees acquired at last year’s trade deadline, and right-handed pitcher David Phelps.
After shoring the left side of the infield with the additions of third baseman Chase Headley and shortstop Didi Gregorius, the Yankees were seeking an upgrade on the mound without having to shell out big bucks for a veteran free agent. Therefore, they used Prado, who became more expendable after the Yankees inked Headley to a four-year pact, to land a pair of high-upside arms.
In Eovaldi, the Yankees are getting one of the more intriguing young pitchers in the game. He has a power arm and nasty stuff to go along with good control, but heading into his age-25 season, things haven’t quite clicked for the right-hander.
“I don’t think he’s a finished product," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said of Eovaldi via John Harper of the New York Daily News. “He’s got a great deal of ability, and we’re really excited to add him to the mix."
Eovaldi had a rough 2014 season at face value, posting 6-14 record and 4.37 ERA in 33 starts for Miami. Beyond that, however, a case can be made that the 24-year-old had a career-best campaign.
Eovaldi’s 3.37 FIP and 3.78 xFIP suggest he suffered from bad luck in 2014, a notion supported by a career-worst .323 batting average on balls in play by opposing hitters and a strand rate (65.5 percent) that was approximately eight percent lower than the previous year, per FanGraphs. And from a durability standpoint, he set new career high-water marks with 33 starts and 199.2 innings pitched.
And then there’s the stuff.
To put it simply: Eovaldi throws smoke. The right-hander’s 95-96 four-seam fastball last season ranked second among all starting pitchers (minimum 1,000 four-seam fastballs thrown), and he located the pitch in the strike zone more often than anyone not named Phil Hughes. As for command, Eovaldi is adept at pounding the bottom of the zone, especially low and away, against lefties and righties, but he’s still learning how to effectively pitch to both sides of the plate.
“He’s [Eovaldi] got a great gift—there’s no doubt about that,” Cashman said per David Waldstein of The New York Times. “Now it’s just a matter of harnessing that gift.”
Eovaldi’s knack for working inside the zone is also what limits his ability to miss bats. He’s below average both at getting strikeouts (6.28 K/9 in 460 career innings) and swinging strikes (8.1 percent), as neither his hard four-seamer nor his slider are particularly great swing-and-miss pitches.
However, Eovaldi’s combination of stuff and his insistence on living in the zone is precisely what gives him so much upside. Joel Sherman of the New York Post speculates that Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild could be the answer for the right-hander.
The Yankees adore power arms, and both Eovaldi and German have those. However, Eovaldi has not translated that lightning into consistent effectiveness.
[…]
The Yankees believe they have in Larry Rothschild one of the finer pitching coaches in raising the effectiveness of hurlers with stuff, and they clearly see room for Eovaldi to evolve into something better.
Eovaldi is eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason and will earn approximately $3.1 million, according to Matt Swartz of MLB Trade Rumors. The Yankees will have three years of team control, with Eovaldi set to become a free agent following the 2017 season.
The Yankees are also getting a promising young arm in German, a 22-year-old right-hander who’s coming off an impressive full-season debut.
Making 25 starts for Low-A Greensboro, German posted a 2.48 ERA with 113 strikeouts against 25 walks over 123.1 innings. Though he flew under the radar as an older pitcher at a lower level, German put himself on the prospect map in this year’s SiriusXM Future Game with strikeouts of Kris Bryant and Joey Gallo.
The 6’2”, 175-pound right-hander has impressive arm strength, boasting a fastball that sits comfortably in the low- to mid-90s and at times a few ticks higher. On top of that, he’s adept at pounding the zone with the pitch, while his athletic delivery and fluid arm action give it late sinking action.
German’s secondary arsenal is highlighted by changeup that has the potential to be above average, and he already shows an advanced feel for the pitch relative to his fastball. His slider is easily his least advanced offering, registering in the low-80s with inconsistent shape and pace, and he’ll need to time to refine the pitch in the coming years.
While German's an overall work in progress, his arm strength and strike-throwing ability provide a solid foundation for future growth. However, his long-term role, as in starter versus reliever, will depend on the development of a legitimate third pitch.
The acquisition of two young power arms is a big step for the Yankees, as they have traditionally targeted pitchers with years of sustained success in the major leagues. With Eovaldi, however, the club clearly believes that his best years are on the way.
If that turns out to be the case, the Yankees will have yet another cheap, young arm to build a rotation around.
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