Chicago Cubs targeting Nathan Eovaldi
The Yankees have one starting pitcher in particular who is garnering attention as May comes to a close. Nathan Eovaldi has shown he can be a top-line starter as of late, pitching to a 4-0 record in his last four starts. Over that span the right-hander holds an ERA of 2.16 in 25 innings, and the Chicago Cubs are taking notice. The Cubs are in first place in the NL Central by five and a half games over the Pirates, but that has not stopped the north-siders of Chicago from searching for deadline pieces.
Source says one of the pitchers the #Cubs are focusing on for possible deal is #Yankees SP Nathan Eovaldi. Nothing imminent.
— Julie DiCaro (@JulieDiCaro) May 29, 2016
Along with Masahiro Tanaka, Eovaldi has proved to be a leader of the starting rotation. During his hot streak, batters have not been able to touch his splitter. This has lead to a .193 opponents batting average over the past four games. Overall on the season, the flamethrower is 5-2 with and has lowered his ERA to 3.95 in 54 1/3 innings. Through nine starts, he has the best strikeouts per nine innings in his career, standing at just over eight. He has been an instrumental part in helping the Yankees claw close to the .500 mark on the season, as the Yankees stand at 23-25. The Cubs have top flight starters in Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester, but have gotten solid contribution from the back end of the rotation. Kyle Hendricks, John Lackey and Jason Hammel have impressed at times over the season, but adding a pitcher like Eovaldi would elevate the pitching staff. However, there has been no indication from the Yankees of making any deals at this point in the season. "We'll talk again in July," said Hal Steinbrenner, who spoke May 18th on the topic of being sellers at the deadline. "Right now, that's the least of my concerns." If a deal were to go through with the Cubs, the Yankees would probably want young prospects who are close to big league ready in return. The trade deadline this year has been moved to August 1st instead of the normal July 31st deadline.