Earlier this evening, the Yankees announced right-hander Nathan Eovaldi will be shut down two weeks with right elbow inflammation. He was examined today and underwent an MRI. I assume no structural damage was found. The timetable would be way longer than two weeks in that case.
Eovaldi, 25, had Tommy John surgery as a high school junior way back in 2007. His elbow has been healthy since. (He dealt with some shoulder inflammation in 2013.) There are still four weeks left in the regular season, so, with any luck, Eovaldi will be back in two weeks. Hopefully this is nothing serious.
In 27 starts and 154.1 innings this year, Eovaldi has a 4.20 ERA (3.43 FIP), though he’s been much better of late, with a 3.43 ERA (2.87 FIP) in 14 starts and 84 innings since the Miami disaster. Eovaldi did struggle with his location the last two times out and command problems are a classic symptom of elbow trouble.
The Yankees are getting CC Sabathia back from his knee injury Wednesday, so he’ll step right into Eovaldi’s rotation spot. Expanded rosters will still allow them to use a spot sixth starter whenever they want. Bryan Mitchell and Chris Capuano are candidates to make spot starts if necessary.
Eovaldi has been the team’s best pitcher the last few weeks, and the Yankees are already without their best hitter thanks to Mark Teixeira’s bone bruise, so the roster has taken some big hits of late. And yet, they’re tied with the Blue Jays in the loss column. Fighting spirit.
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