Red Sox

These Red Sox deserve reinforcements, and here’s two familiar faces who’d fit perfectly

Wouldn’t you love to see Nate Eovaldi pitching meaningful games for the Red Sox again?

By Chad Finn, The Boston Globe

July 18, 2024

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The circumstances were different then, and so too were the expectations.

But the template for what this summer’s pleasantly surprising Red Sox team must do to enhance both their roster and very real playoff chances can be found six seasons and a couple of front-office honchos ago.

The approach first-year chief baseball officer Craig Breslow must take with these upstart Red Sox — who have 53 wins at the All-Star break, or roughly 10 fewer than many prognosticators projected for them over the entire season — is precisely the one then-president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski took to bolster the 2018 Sox juggernaut.

These better-than-we-ever-figured Red Sox need now what those eventual World Champions needed then: A righthanded bat to mash lefties, and a righthanded starting pitcher to devour innings.

Coincidentally, a player Dombrowski acquired then is the ideal player, as far as I’m concerned, for Breslow to acquire now.

Wouldn’t you love to see Nate Eovaldi pitching meaningful games for the Red Sox again?

His selfless and gutsy performance in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series, when he threw 97 pitches in six innings of relief after coming out of the bullpen in both games 1 and 2, secured him a permanent place in Red Sox lore even though Max Muncy’s home run in the 18th inning won the game for the Dodgers.

Eovaldi was a question mark with a 41-50 career record and a couple of scars on his right elbow from two Tommy John surgeries when Dombrowski acquired him from the Rays on July 25, 2018, for lefty Jalen Beeks, the Sox’ No. 6 prospect at the time.

Eovaldi had never pitched in the postseason before coming to the Red Sox. He was sensational that postseason, allowing just four earned runs in 22⅓ innings, which included wins over the Yankees and Astros in his two starts, and three relief appearances in the World Series, during which he allowed just one earned run in eight innings.

And since, he’s become one of the best postseason pitchers of his generation, which includes winning a record-tying five games during the Rangers’ run to their first World Series title in franchise history last year.

Eovaldi left the Red Sox to take a two-year deal (with a third-year option) with the Rangers during 2023 free agency, though the Sox reportedly offered him a competitive three-year deal.

It could not have worked out better for Eovaldi. But while he’s been very good again this season (6-3, 2.97 ERA, 92 strikeouts in 94 innings), the same cannot be said of his ballclub.

The Rangers are four games below .500 at the break (46-50) and have just a 9.9 percent chance of making the playoffs, per Baseball-Reference.

If the Rangers decide to move him, the Red Sox would hardly be alone as a potential suitor. Boston’s triumvirate of elite prospects — Marcelo Mayer, Kyle Teel, and Roman Anthony — obviously would be conversation-enders.

But bringing back Eovaldi — a terrific teammate who not only thrived in this market but blossomed into the best version of himself as a pitcher — would be worth the cost of a genuine prospect on the lower end of the top 10 … if not two.

Someone just like Eovaldi is the Red Sox’ biggest need. So why not just get him?

It’s actually plausible, if somewhat less than likely, that Breslow could acquire a couple of players who already are familiar with navigating Van Ness Street.

The Red Sox have seized the spot in the AL East standings — third place at 53-42, 3½ games behind the Yankees and 4½ behind the Orioles — that most presumed would be the territory of the Rays or Jays at this point.

The Jays in particular have been an underachieving debacle at 44-52. This entire era has been an underachievement, and Toronto would be wise to sell off parts.

In June 2018, Dombrowski preemptively cut a deal with the Jays to acquire veteran Steve Pearce, whose baseball card might have well have said, “crushes lefties, will travel.” Pearce had played for every other AL East team before joining the Sox, but like Eovaldi, earned his place in Red Sox lore by walloping three home runs in 16 plate appearances in the World Series while collecting MVP honors.

Perhaps Breslow should follow suit, turn to Toronto, and inquire about a certain familiar player with a similar hitting profile to Pearce: How about bringing back Justin Turner?

Turner was one of a smattering of bright spots for last season’s Sox, hitting 23 home runs with an .800 OPS, while bonding with Boston fans as if Fenway was the only place he’d ever wanted to play.

Unlike Eovaldi, he should come cheap. Turner has just a .680 OPS in his age 39 season, with a meager five home runs in 310 plate appearances. But he does have an .812 OPS in 68 plate appearances against lefties, just slightly below his career .825 OPS against lefties.

And the Green Monster is Turner’s old friend — he has a career .822 OPS against all pitchers at Fenway, with 13 homers and 18 doubles in 81 games. And did I mention he’d come cheap?

Maybe Breslow will ultimately take a different route than going to the Red Sox’ past to help the present. But this much is certain: this team deserves help.

After treading water with what felt like a win-one, lose-one slog through May, the Red Sox have gone 24-13 since the start of June.

They remind me somewhat of the ‘95 Red Sox — with Rafael Devers slugging away like Mo Vaughn, and All-Star Game MVP Jarren Duran (5.1 WAR) emerging from the shadows as a multi-talented star, much as John Valentin (9.3 WAR) did 29 years ago. They remind me a little of those underestimated ‘21 Sox, too.

But mostly, they’ve developed their own identity, as a fun-loving, athletic, hustling team that believes in itself and each other.

Their important victory over the Royals Sunday — when Duran had four hits, Ceddanne Rafaela threw out a knuckleheaded runner at third in the ninth inning, and Kenley Jansen locked it down for two innings — was a sweet microcosm of all that went right for them, or should I say all they did right, over the last six weeks.

The 2024 Red Sox are both good and in need of obvious reinforcements. They need another dependable starting pitcher. And they need a righthanded bat.

Go get your guys what they need, Breslow. This team has earned the chance to show us just how good they can be.