The Boston Red Sox have taken back home field advantage against the Houston Astros, with an offense that has overwhelmed the opponent with consistency and power. The bats have come alive at the perfect time, and the Red Sox are capitalizing on all their opportunities across the entire lineup.
The offense has did a great job of carrying the team against the Astros, but you cannot overlook the pitching at this point. Even if the Red Sox have not completely locked down the Astros, their starters have held things together and made sure the offense always has a chance to win.
For the starting rotation, however, Nathan Eovaldi has shown much more than that so far this postseason. At first, there was no trust that he could hold things together. Eovaldi has been electric his whole career but consistency has always been the issue.
After a his most recent starts, his performance so far feels far from a fluke, and that could truly transform what the Red Sox can do with their rotation.
It is already fail obvious that he is the second best pitcher in the rotation these playoffs. Even if he is not right behind Chris Sale in the rotation, he has dominated in a way that the other secondary pitchers have not and the threat of that could destroy most teams in this league.
With Sale, the Red Sox could not be more comfortable with their number one. Sale is reliable and dominant. He works quick and he is does not fear anyone. He has not been perfect, but Sale is making sure no opponent gets an advantage when he is on the mount.
With David Price, there is absolutely no trust. His second start was much better, but it will be impossible for the Red Sox tot rust him on the mound. Alex Cora has no choice other than to prepare for a long bullpen performance when he is on the mound, and you cannot have that with your number two.
Right now, Eovaldi is the most electric starting pitcher in the playoffs, regularly throwing over 100 mph and even breaking 101mph multiple times in a game. With the movement and placement of his pitching so far, he has been borderline unhittable for long stretches of every game he has played in.
Eovaldi has found a great rhythm, and is not making the mistakes that held him back early on in his career. Instead, he is taking it to hitters and blowing it past them. He is a starting pitcher that needs to be feared in these playoffs, and you cannot overstate the importance of that when you have a number two as wild as Price.
Eovaldi has made it clear that he can be the one to bring that next level of reliability an dominance. No one else will ever be Sale and there is nothing that can happen in these playoffs that can change that.
With the way Eovaldi is performing now, however, the Red Sox will have no choice other than to make him one of the most important fixtures in the rotation.
The Astros have a dominant offense and it will be hard to expect any pitcher to shut them down. Right now, the Red Sox are fully confident that Eovaldi will always be able to do enough to give the offense a chance to win.
The balance will always be key, but trusting that Eovaldi can stay as effective as he started could alter much of what the Red Sox had planned with their rotation as the playoffs go on. That kind of weapon opens up a lot of things and could save the bullpen in a big way.
The Red Sox know that avoiding the bullpen early has been vital in these playoffs. There is confidence that Sale will always go deep, and now u can start thinking the same about Eovaldi.
With the pressure he can put on the opponent, and the pressure he can take off his teammates, Eovaldi is shaping up to be one of the most most important players for this Red Sox playoff run.
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