I wrote about this earlier in the week regarding my beloved Atlanta Braves. With the prospects of Max Fried more likely than not walking in his free agency, Atlanta seems to be honing in on Nathan Eovaldi as a potential replacement for him in the Braves rotation. Eovaldi won a World Series as a part of the Texas Rangers two years ago and won his first as a member of the Boston Red Sox way back in 2018.
While I know that he has pitched in the big leagues for a while now and has had success at multiple stops, I was beginning to wonder why he has become available to be had on the open market. Yes, I realize that he opted out of his contract with the Rangers, but you have to wonder that if he will even be an upgrade over Fried should he walk. Eovaldi is at the very least solid, but he offers high variance.
One thing to consider with him is he has had his fair share of arm injuries throughout his lengthy big-league career. He has only made more than 30 starts in a regular season twice in his career. This has contributed to him only having four 10-win seasons in his career and never doing better than 14 in a campaign. We know Eovaldi is electrifying in the postseason, but will he be enough to still get there?
Jon Morosi of The MLB Network reported on Friday that Atlanta does have real interest in Eovaldi.
.@jonmorosi says the Atlanta Braves are a team to watch for free agent RHP Nathan Eovaldi.#MLBNHotStove pic.twitter.com/K7WelCCeY9
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 8, 2024
All I know is that Eovaldi being tasked with filling Fried’s big shoes will not come easy in the slightest.
Atlanta Braves will not solve major issue with this Max Fried replacement
The biggest thing that will carry the Braves next season may again have to be its pitching staff. While I would expect that the offense will improve over last year, the rotation needs to be a focal point to get this team over top. While Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez and Spencer Schwellenbach will be vibrant parts of it, the first two have had arm troubles before, and Scwhellenbach is only a second-year pro.
At some point, Spencer Strider will return from his elbow injury. Will he be the same player? Maybe, but we still have not seen Ian Anderson return since tearing his UCL. I am afraid that the Braves are taking care of their pitching staff about as well as your local snot-nosed kid takes care of their toys. After being left in the rain for a fortnight, you cannot say that Fisher-Price’s finest will be good as new.
So how does Eovaldi fit into the equation? He may come to the Braves on a multi-year deal to help solidify their rotation for the next few seasons as it goes through a period of transition. However, injuries are one part of professional sports that never seem to go away. Once a player starts getting hurt, he keeps getting hurt. Atlanta needs to focus on winning today and tomorrow, not backsliding.
Eovaldi may be what this team needs, but his career-long arm issues are something to consider.
