Nathan Eovaldi (SP, BOS) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~240

CURRENT ADP: ~260 overall

ANALYSIS: Nathan Eovaldi threw 67.2 unsuccessful innings for the Red Sox last year while battling injury. However, he did show the same dynamic stuff which led his K% to jump between 2018 and 2019. In 2018, Eovaldi used his cutter to get ahead and then set up his 97-98 mph fastball as a put-away pitch. For some reason, while battling injury in 2019, Eovaldi massively cut back on his cutter usage in favor of his curve, which had a 41.1 Whiff% but has only been a marginally successful pitch for him throughout his career.

When spring began, not only was Eovaldi using his cutter more, but he had also begun throwing a splitter far more often. Last year, the pitch only had a 24.7 Whiff% and 15.5 PutAway%, but it did limit batters to a .192 xBA. If the splitter becomes another pitch Eovaldi can use with the cutter to set up his fastball as a strikeout offering, then there's reason to get excited about his spring success (eight IP, four hits, one BB, zero runs, 12 strikeouts).

Now that Chris Sale is out for the year and Eduardo Rodriguez has been diagnosed with COVID-19, Eovaldi enters the season with a locked-in spot as the Red Sox number one arm. Given how well he's been throwing, there's no reason he can't repeat 2018 with an ERA under 4.00 and a K/9 north of eight while pitching for a team that should put him in a good position for wins. Plus, if new Red Sox GM Chaim Bloom brings his old Tampa Bay philosophy of the opener to Boston, Eovaldi would be the perfect pitcher to use as a "Follower," throwing five innings to limit his overall wear-and-tear and still be in line for victories.