Nathan Eovaldi. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Nathan Eovaldi was tremendous his first two starts with the Red Sox after being acquired by the Rays.The righty won them both, didn't allow a run over 15 innings, and scattered just seven hits.
The last four outings--different story. Eovaldi's 0-2 with a 7.41 ERA after giving up 21 runs--14 earned--and 35 hits over his 17 frames. Nate, what's the difference?
"I don't really know, I would say just the location," he said. "Those first two starts, I felt really crisp and clean with everything. I was able to locate all my pitches, now its, I've been leaving a lot of my splitters over the middle part of the plate, same with the sliders and fastballs. It's just, I have to do a better job of locating when I'm ahead in the count to get quick outs."
Eovaldi's manager Alex Cora would like to see more pitch variety, too.
"He mixes up his breaking ball," Cora said. "I think we need to use that a little bit more."
Eovaldi missed all of last year, recovering from his second Tommy John surgery, but said he's feeling great physically and mentally. No concerns. He's just focused on keeping his pitch count low.
Injured lefty Eduardo Rodriguez will test his sprained right ankle in a six-inning rehab start tonight for Double-A Portland.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) reports