Red Sox name Nathan Eovaldi as their Opening Day starter

The Boston Red Sox revealed their Opening Day starter among their limited rotation options.

2020 is going to be a year of low expectations for the Boston Red Sox. With the MLB season less than a week away, the Red Sox were left in a bind in terms of pitching due to a variety of injuries and illnesses.

But on Saturday, the Red Sox officially announced that Nathan Eovaldi will be the team’s Opening Day starter on July 24 against the Baltimore Orioles.

How did the Red Sox get here?

Earlier this year, the bad omens for Boston began after ace Chris Sale stayed away from the team after battling pneumonia. Shortly after returning to the team’s facility, the Red Sox announced that Sale would have to go under the knife to repair a torn UCL in his pitching elbow.

The bad news continued for Boston, as presumed top starter Eduardo Rodriguez didn’t report to summer camp due to testing positive for COVID-19. Additionally, free agency acquisition Collin McHugh is working to return from an elbow injury suffered last season. So, Eovaldi essentially won the job by default.

Eovaldi was an unsung hero for the Red Sox during the 2018 World Series. That winter, the Red Sox rewarded him with a four-year, $68 million contract. That deal was basically a curse, as Eovaldi missed time due to loose bodies in his pitching elbow. The veteran pitcher would participate in 23 games last season, where he put up a bloated 5.99 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP.

The Red Sox are relying on Eovaldi to lead their rotation for the foreseeable future, and luckily for him, he’s got a favorable opponent in the Orioles next Friday.