The Sad Fate of Unlucky Eovaldi

Oh, where have you gone Nathan Eovaldi, a Dodger’s Nation turns it’s lonely eyes to you….wooo….wooo…wooo.

Poor Nathan. He has gone where so many Dodger pitchers have gone before, without any runs. The unlucky 22 year old right handed starter, joins the ranks of other hard luck Dodger starters that left town, like Hiroki Kuroda. Eovaldi truly was one of a kind, never fully appreciated while he was here, yet never supported with any runs.

No, no runs would be scored when Eovaldi was on the mound. That was a weekly certainty, and it was almost freaky in a way. The Dodger offense’s inability to score runs when Eovaldi’s turn in the rotation came around was perplexing, and frustrating. Was it just some kind of weird coincidence? Eovaldi was 1-6 with a 4.15 ERA in ten starts for the Dodgers, but pitched much better than his record and ERA indicate. The Dodgers only scored five runs in his first seven starts. His last start was on Sunday in New York, when he lasted just 4.1 innings, and left with a no-decision. The Dodgers ended up scoring eight runs and winning 8-3 in 12 innings. They have never scored more than four runs this season when Eovaldi was on the mound. The Dodgers scored two runs or less in eight of Eovaldi’s ten starts. The Dodgers scored one run or less in six, yes six of his ten starts. The Dodgers just didn’t score any runs for him, like ever. This of course takes us back over the years to pitchers like Hiroki Kuroda, Ismael Valdez, who would pitch shutouts, and leave with no-decisions, because the inept Dodger offense was unable to provide any semblance of run support.

Eovaldi made his MLB debut for the Dodgers last season. In 2011, he was 1-2 with a 3.63 ERA in ten starts. This year he had 34 whiffs, and 20 walks in 56 innings pitched. The only two games Eovaldi won with the Dodgers came at Arizona. Eovaldi was filing in for injured starter Ted Lilly. Eovaldi has had a history of command problems, but was generally improving, and developing his secondary pitches. Nathan was traded to the Miami Marlins along with a minor league pitcher for Hanley Ramirez, and lefty reliever Randy Choate. Nathan was a victim to the Dodgers new moneyball Guggenheim era. Perhaps it was young Nathan’s rising stock, that allowed us to con Miami out of Hanley Ramirez. Or maybe not. who knows. Nobody tell Nathan that his run support might not get any better over in Miami, because they are ranked 24th in batting.

Goodbye Nathan! Good luck in Miami. We will miss you!