3 former Red Sox who the club wishes were still in Boston

1. Nathan Eovaldi, SP, Texas Rangers

With the Texas Rangers signing Jacob deGrom this offseason, the fact that also inked Red Sox 2018 postseason hero Nathan Eovaldi as well seemed to get swept under the rug a bit. It’s not under the rug through the first 60 games of the season in Arlington, though.

Through his first 12 starts this season on the new club, Eovaldi has been a legitimate (and perhaps leading) AL Cy Young candidate. Posting an 8-2 record to start the year, Eovaldi has a team-high 77 strikeouts while sporting a 2.24 ERA and 0.93 WHIP with eight Quality Starts to his credit. He’s been absolute nails for Texas.

As we’ve already discussed, the Red Sox have already weathered a fair share of pitching woes this season, something that having Eovaldi in the rotation would’ve surely helped with. And it only stings more that he’s not just performing at the same level he did in Boston, but has elevated his performance even further.

The one caveat to all of this, of course, is the health of Eovaldi. He’s stayed healthy to this point in the year, but that was a struggle for him with the Sox. He made just 20 starts for the club a season ago and, given his injury history, betting on him to put in a full season in Texas is not a safe wager.

Having said that, sometimes in MLB, teams have to take calculated risks. And with the way that Eovaldi is hurling for the Rangers, it’s a tough pill to swallow that the Red Sox didn’t take that risk — especially given what he meant to the franchise in 2018 and over his five-season run with the team.