Nathan Eovaldi to be sidelined until after the 2017 season

Nathan Eovaldi (Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports)

On Tuesday, the New York Yankees received very unfortunate injury news. Nathan Eovaldi, who has pitched pretty well since being acquired by the Yankees from the Miami Marlins in 2014, is out for the remainder of the season.  Eovaldi said his flexor tendon was “torn away from the bone”, but also said it wasn’t that painful. He also has a partially torn UCL, which will require two surgeries and it will sideline him for the entire 2017 season as well.

This news is a setback for the Yankees, as they hoped to have Eovaldi in the starting rotation to finish the season strong. In 21 starts this season, Eovaldi went 9-8 with a 4.76 ERA in 124.2 innings pitched, which some will say isn’t that big of a loss, but it is due to not having the pitching depth and the consistency from the rotation itself to be a playoff team this season.

Eovaldi has the stuff to be a pretty good starting pitcher. He has a power fastball that’s in the high 90s, mixes in a slider from time to time, and has utilized a splitter that’s at 89 MPH, which he started using since being traded to the Yankees. His work ethic is something the Yankees are a fan of, so if his rehabilitation goes well for the rest of the season and in 2017, he may be back in 2018.  As for who will replace Eovaldi in the rotation for the rest of the season, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Luis Cessa will replace him and start Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim.