Eovaldi struggles but Red Sox win 2-1; Before April 20th game vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Nathan Eovaldi (Photo from MLB.com video; https://www.mlb.com/gameday/blue-jays-vs-red-sox/2022/04/19/663249#game_state=final,game_tab=videos,game=663249)

The Boston Red Sox won 2-1 as they survived Toronto's Zack Collins hitting a solo home run and Nathan Eovaldi's shortest start of the season to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

Eovaldi's start was 4 2/3 innings and not good enough for a win (a starting pitcher needs five innings to qualify for a win) and the fewest innings pitched of his regular season, but it was good enough to get the job done.

Nathan's start was actually probably his best of the regular season except for the fact that he gave up seven hits (his most this regular season) and he had six strikeouts (tied for his worst in the regular season, just like his previous start on April 13th).

Eovaldi gave up just four hits on April 13th at the Detroit Tigers, his best of the regular season, and he gave up five hits on April 8th at the New York Yankees.

The good news for Nathan is that he only gave up one home run this time around and not two home runs like he did in his previous two starts.

People have to wonder if he will not give up a home run in his next start or if he will continue to give up home runs.

Eovaldi threw 65 strikes in 91 pitches which honestly looks bad when he threw 56 strikes in 76 pitches on April 8th and 72 strikes in 101 pitches on April 13th.

One bad pitch Tuesday night costed him a win, and Nathan easily could be 3-0 on the season.

Eovaldi's start on Tuesday looks worse than it actually was because he was the only Boston pitcher who gave up any runs and the Red Sox offense did not do enough to get him a win.

The bottom line is that Toronto probably should have put up a few more runs against Eovaldi on the scoreboard tonight and his next start (likely on Sunday at the Tampa Bay Rays) won't be easy at all as Tampa Bay will want to feast on him knowing that he is due soon to give up some runs.

I was a little surprised Matt Strahm pitched tonight and I think there is no chance he will pitch on Wednesday since he has pitched at least an inning in three of the last four games. Strahm has a defined role and it seems like he will be used a lot this regular season. How much I guess is probably still a mystery.

I expect Hansel Robles to pitch again on Wednesday or on Thursday, but not both days. Robles is the closer and Red Sox manager Alex Cora clearly made the right decision to take him out of the game in the top of the eighth with two outs after pitching 1 2/3 innings.

Jake Diekman got the most important out of the game with two outs (and a baserunner he allowed to get to first, Zack Collins, who hit a single and was replaced by pinch runner Cavan Biggio) in the top of the eighth. I expect Diekman to be used on Wednesday and Thursday if necessary, but maybe not both days, we'll see.

Garrett Whitlock picked up his first save of the season, and I'm sure he will be used in the next high-stress situation. If that is on Wednesday, he will pitch then, but I don't think Whitlock is a guarantee to pitch tomorrow unless it is absolutely necessary.

Alex Cora is probably going to have to use one of his not very good relievers in Wednesday's game such as Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier. It may be 1/3 of an inning or it might be one inning, but Cora's not very good relievers definitely won't be pitching a sum total of more than two innings on Wednesday. Kutter Crawford also probably wants to pitch again soon after Monday's appearance.

Wednesday's starter is NIck Pivetta for the Boston Red Sox, and he is going to have to figure out a way to get back in the win column and have a good (or even great performance).

Pivetta has 1.5 losses (to be objectively fair to Pivetta) in two starts this regular season, considering that is the absolute worst he can do. He can't do any worse! He is the worst pitcher on this team right now.

If Pivetta and all of the other Red Sox starters not named Nathan Eovaldi don't start winning games, Garrett Whitlock is going to be a starting pitcher sooner rather than later (and Pivetta at the moment is likely going to be demoted to the bullpen). I don't really see Garrett Whitlock as a starter in the future at all, so clearly the Red Sox are going to have to figure out a way to make Pivetta (and the other Boston starting pitchers and relievers) more effective.

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Actual won-lost records in the 2022 regular season for Boston Red Sox pitchers depending on the Boston Red Sox win/loss result for any one specific game

Matt Barnes .111 wins and .250 losses (.308 win pct.)

Ryan Brasier .148 wins and .625 losses (.192 win pct.)

Kutter Crawford .259 wins and .167 losses (.609 win pct.)

Austin Davis .185 wins and .083 losses (.690 win pct.)

Jake Diekman .333 wins and .125 losses (.727 win pct.)

Nathan Eovaldi 1.074 wins and .500 losses (.682 win pct.)

Rich Hill .481 wins and 0.000 losses (1.000 win pct.)

Tanner Houck 1.000 wins and 0.000 losses (1.000 win pct.)

Nick Pivetta 0.000 wins and 1.500 losses (.000 win pct.)

Hansel Robles .444 wins and 0.000 losses (1.000 win pct.)

Hirokazu Sawamura .074 wins and .250 losses (.229 win pct.)

Matt Strahm .519 wins and 0.000 losses (1.000 win pct.)

Phillips Valdez 0 wins and 0 losses (Not applicable. Hasn't been in a game yet the Boston Red Sox actually won and he also hasn't given up any runs yet at all. So technically that means he's a winner. 1.000 win pct.)

Michael Wacha .556 wins and .333 losses (.625 win pct.)

Garrett Whitlock .815 wins and .167 losses (.830 win pct.)

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Actual won-lost records in the 2022 regular season for Boston Red Sox pitchers not depending on whether the Boston Red Sox actually win any one specific game or not.

In other words, this tells the complete picture of their entire regular season (the good and the bad) of how many people the pitcher got out (innings pitched) and how many runs the pitcher truthfully gave up (which is more accurate than runs or even earned runs given up). So to make this more easy for people to understand, starting pitchers don't 100% get blamed for the inherited runners that the reliever(s) allow to score. The starter will get 25%, 50% or 75% blame for giving up one run instead, for an inherited runner that eventually scores.

Also, a pitcher can get a partial win and a partial loss in the same game. So pitchers that throw more innings pitched are going to get a higher percentage of partial wins and pitchers who give up more runs are going to get a higher percentage of partial losses. So if one pitcher pitches a complete game he will get one win (regardless of the team's win/loss result) and if the pitcher's team actually loses that same game in which he was the only pitcher who pitched for his team, he will also get credit for one loss.

The only time any pitcher cannot take a loss or a partial loss is if the winning team doesn't give up any runs to the team they are playing.

Basically, this is truly giving credit where credit is due among pitchers only.

Matt Barnes .347 wins and .250 losses (.581 win pct.) 3 innings pitched

Ryan Brasier .368 wins and 1.792 losses (.170 win pct.) 3 1/3 innings pitched

Kutter Crawford .259 wins and .488 losses (.347 win pct.) 2 1/3 innings pitched

Austin Davis .463 wins and .369 losses (.556 win pct.) 4 innings pitched

Jake Diekman .367 wins and .232 losses (.612 win pct.) 3 1/3 innings pitched

Nathan Eovaldi 1.574 wins and 1.786 losses (.469 win pct.) 14 2/3 innings pitched

Rich Hill .481 wins and 1.000 losses (.325 win pct.) 4 1/3 innings pitched

Tanner Houck 1.000 wins and .583 losses (.632 win pct.) 9 innings pitched

Nick Pivetta .931 wins and 1.500 losses (.383 win pct.) 7 2/3 innings pitched

Hansel Robles .544 wins and .000 losses (1.000 win pct.) 5 innings pitched

Hirokazu Sawamura .421 wins and .250 losses (.628 win pct.) 3 2/3 innings pitched

Matt Strahm .669 wins and 0.250 losses (.728 win pct.) 6 innings pitched

Phillips Valdez .431 wins and 0.000 losses (1.000 win pct.) 3 2/3 innings pitched

Michael Wacha 1.097 wins and .333 losses (.767 win pct.) 9 1/3 innings pitched

Garrett Whitlock 1.048 wins and .167 losses (.863 win pct.) 9 2/3 innings pitched

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Wins, Losses, Holds, Blown Saves and Saves that everybody understands

Matt Barnes

Ryan Brasier Hold 1, Blown Saves 1

Kutter Crawford 1-1

Austin Davis 0-1

Jake Diekman Holds 4 Saves 1

Nathan Eovaldi 1-0

Rich Hill

Tanner Houck 1-0

Nick Pivetta 0-2

Hansel Robles 1-0 Holds 1 Saves 1

Hirokazu Sawamura

Matt Strahm 1-0 Holds 1

Phillips Valdez

Michael Wacha

Garrett Whitlock 1-0 Blown Saves 1 Saves 1