Nathan Eovaldi; high velocity, low strike outs. What, if anything, do the Yankees have in mind?

Nathan Eovaldi was the key player received by the Yankees in their trade of Martin Prado to the Marlins.

Martin Prado, the Yankees hardly knew ye.  Tuesday, December 23, 2014

What was the point?  Martin, the Yankees hardly knew ye.*

Martin Prado:

July 31, 2014: Traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the New York Yankees for Peter O'Brien (minors) and player to be named.

December 19, 2014: Traded by the New York Yankees with David Phelps and cash to the Miami Marlins for Domingo German (minors), Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Jones.
___________________________________________________

Eovaldi will be 25 in February.  We keep hearing that Eovaldi is a power pitcher.  Apparently they are looking at his average fast ball velocity among starters.  Here are the top four in 2014:

Garrett Richards Angles Born: May 27, 1988: Height: 6' 3", Weight: 210 lb. 96.4 mph    8.8 SO9  168.66 innings

Yordano Ventura Royals Born: June 3, 1991  Height: 6' 0", Weight: 180 lb. 96.0 mph  7.8 SO9  183 innings

Wily Peralta Brewers Born: May 8, 1989 Height: 6' 1", Weight: 245 lb. 95.6 mph  7.0 SO9  198.66 innings

Nathan Eovaldi Marlins Born: February 13, 1990: Height: 6' 2", Weight: 215 lb. 95.5 mph  6.4 SO9  199.66 innings

Eovaldi has the lowest strike out (SO) rate of the four but none average one SO per inning, which seems odd.  Apparently Yankee pitching coach Larry Rothschild is supposed to turn Eovaldi into a much more effective pitcher given what the Yankees perceive as a lot of raw talent.  Rothschild has a good reputation but he may have missed such an opportunity with Phil Hughes.  The Yankees did not even make a qualifying offer to Hughes when he became a free agent after the 2013 season.  The Twins signed Hughes to a modest contract and in 2014 Phil Hughes set the all time record for SO to Walks ratio.  The ALL TIME RECORD!

Rk	Player	SO/W	IP	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	GS	CG	SHO	GF	W	L	W-L%	SV	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	FIP	ERA+	HR	BF	AB	2B	3B	IBB	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	PO	BK	WP	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	Pit	Str
1	Phil Hughes	11.63	209.2	2014	28	MIN	AL	32	32	1	0	0	16	10	.615	0	221	88	82	16	186	3.52	2.65	112	16	855	824	46	3	1	5	3	7	16	14	1	0	0	1	.268	.284	.390	.674	88	3046	2224
2	Bret Saberhagen	11.00	177.1	1994	30	NYM	NL	24	24	4	0	0	14	4	.778	0	169	58	54	13	143	2.74	2.76	153	13	696	665	37	7	0	4	9	5	17	8	4	3	0	0	.254	.271	.389	.660	75
3	Cliff Lee	10.28	212.1	2010	31	TOT	AL	28	28	7	1	0	12	9	.571	0	195	84	75	18	185	3.18	2.58	133	16	843	813	46	3	2	1	4	6	11	4	3	0	1	3	.240	.255	.363	.618	66	2981	2121
4	Curt Schilling	9.58	259.1	2002	35	ARI	NL	36	35	5	1	0	23	7	.767	0	218	95	93	33	316	3.23	2.40	140	29	1017	974	32	8	1	3	5	2	11	9	6	0	0	6	.224	.251	.362	.613	57	3721	2630
5	Pedro Martinez	8.88	217.0	2000	28	BOS	AL	29	29	7	4	0	18	6	.750	0	128	44	42	32	284	1.74	2.17	291	17	817	768	18	1	0	14	2	1	11	10	3	2	0	1	.167	.213	.259	.473	18	3164	2136
6	Greg Maddux	8.85	232.2	1997	31	ATL	NL	33	33	5	2	0	19	4	.826	0	200	58	57	20	177	2.20	2.43	189	9	893	849	31	3	6	6	11	7	23	20	8	1	0	0	.236	.256	.311	.567	50
7	Pedro Martinez	8.46	213.1	1999	27	BOS	AL	31	29	5	1	1	23	4	.852	0	160	56	49	37	313	2.07	1.39	243	9	835	780	38	0	1	9	3	6	11	21	10	0	0	6	.205	.248	.288	.536	35
8	Ben Sheets	8.25	237.0	2004	25	MIL	NL	34	34	5	0	0	12	14	.462	0	201	85	71	32	264	2.70	2.65	162	25	937	891	57	4	1	4	6	4	10	15	5	1	1	8	.226	.255	.383	.637	66	3581	2442
9	Carlos Silva	7.89	188.1	2005	26	MIN	AL	27	27	2	0	0	9	8	.529	0	212	83	72	9	71	3.44	4.18	130	25	749	730	33	1	2	3	2	5	35	7	4	0	0	0	.290	.300	.441	.741	93	2294	1638
10	Greg Maddux	7.87	209.2	1995	29	ATL	NL	28	28	10	3	0	19	2	.905	0	147	39	38	23	181	1.63	2.26	260	8	785	748	22	0	3	4	9	1	16	26	6	2	0	1	.197	.224	.258	.482	29
11	Clayton Kershaw	7.71	198.1	2014	26	LAD	NL	27	27	6	2	0	21	3	.875	0	139	42	39	31	239	1.77	1.81	197	9	749	709	29	5	0	2	6	1	15	5	4	4	2	7	.196	.231	.289	.521	52	2722	1887
12	Curt Schilling	7.51	256.2	2001	34	ARI	NL	35	35	6	1	0	22	6	.786	0	237	86	85	39	293	2.98	3.11	157	37	1021	968	39	1	0	1	8	5	16	4	9	2	0	4	.245	.273	.402	.675	71	3695	2608
13	Cliff Lee	7.39	211.0	2012	33	PHI	NL	30	30	0	0	0	6	9	.400	0	207	79	74	28	207	3.16	3.13	128	26	847	812	43	3	0	0	3	4	21	4	3	1	0	4	.255	.278	.411	.690	88	3099	2184
14	Hisashi Iwakuma	7.33	179.0	2014	33	SEA	AL	28	28	0	0	0	15	9	.625	0	167	70	70	21	154	3.52	3.25	103	20	709	685	27	1	2	2	0	1	12	0	8	0	0	2	.244	.268	.374	.642	85	2537	1749

Batters are in real trouble as all the top seasons in SO/W are recent, most in this millennium.  In 2014 three pitchers moved into the top 16 slots:
1. Hughes
11.Clayton Kershaw 
16. David Price.

Nathan Eovaldi in 2014 in strike outs per 9 innings (SO9) among pitchers who qualified for leadership in averages was number 68, right behind Hector Noesi and ahead of Kyle Lohse.  Here are the leaders:

Rk	Player	SO9	IP	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	GS	CG	SHO	GF	W	L	W-L%	SV	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	FIP	ERA+	HR	BF	AB	2B	3B	IBB	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	PO	BK	WP	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	Pit	Str
1	Clayton Kershaw	10.85	198.1	2014	26	LAD	NL	27	27	6	2	0	21	3	.875	0	139	42	39	31	239	1.77	1.81	197	9	749	709	29	5	0	2	6	1	15	5	4	4	2	7	.196	.231	.289	.521	52	2722	1887
2	Chris Sale	10.76	174.0	2014	25	CHW	AL	26	26	2	0	0	12	4	.750	0	129	48	42	39	208	2.17	2.57	178	13	685	630	22	1	2	11	2	3	13	4	4	1	0	3	.205	.262	.305	.567	61	2753	1831
3	Max Scherzer	10.29	220.1	2014	29	DET	AL	33	33	1	1	0	18	5	.783	0	196	80	77	63	252	3.15	2.85	127	18	904	823	49	2	1	6	4	8	15	13	10	0	1	10	.238	.294	.368	.663	83	3638	2407
4	Corey Kluber	10.27	235.2	2014	28	CLE	AL	34	34	3	1	0	18	9	.667	0	207	72	64	51	269	2.44	2.35	150	14	951	887	47	5	3	6	5	2	16	8	9	0	0	3	.233	.279	.345	.624	79	3500	2364
5	Stephen Strasburg	10.13	215.0	2014	25	WSN	NL	34	34	0	0	0	14	11	.560	0	198	86	75	43	242	3.14	2.94	120	23	868	807	40	2	4	5	9	4	13	13	6	0	0	7	.245	.286	.385	.672	88	3295	2202
6	David Price	9.82	248.1	2014	28	TOT	AL	34	34	3	0	0	15	12	.556	0	230	100	90	38	271	3.26	2.78	117	25	1009	959	47	4	1	5	4	3	12	12	4	2	0	2	.240	.272	.375	.647	82	3730	2600
7	Francisco Liriano	9.70	162.1	2014	30	PIT	NL	29	29	0	0	0	7	10	.412	0	130	68	61	81	175	3.38	3.59	105	13	691	595	24	2	3	4	6	5	11	19	5	3	0	12	.218	.314	.331	.645	88	2712	1631
8	Felix Hernandez	9.46	236.0	2014	28	SEA	AL	34	34	0	0	0	15	6	.714	0	170	68	56	46	248	2.14	2.56	170	16	912	852	30	5	1	5	4	5	12	20	5	1	0	18	.200	.243	.303	.546	58	3434	2275
9	Jake Odorizzi	9.32	168.0	2014	24	TBR	AL	31	31	0	0	0	11	13	.458	0	156	79	77	59	174	4.12	3.75	90	20	719	644	24	4	0	5	3	8	1	4	6	1	0	3	.242	.307	.385	.692	97	3028	1933
10	Ian Kennedy	9.27	201.0	2014	29	SDP	NL	33	33	0	0	0	13	13	.500	0	189	85	81	70	207	3.63	3.21	92	16	846	755	43	5	4	4	9	8	10	15	8	2	0	11	.250	.314	.384	.698	108	3402	2198
11	Zack Greinke	9.21	202.1	2014	30	LAD	NL	32	32	0	0	0	17	8	.680	0	190	69	61	43	207	2.71	2.97	129	19	821	770	34	3	3	2	2	4	20	6	2	0	0	12	.247	.287	.373	.660	93	3210	2071
12	Zack Wheeler	9.08	185.1	2014	24	NYM	NL	32	32	1	1	0	11	11	.500	0	167	84	73	79	187	3.54	3.55	98	14	794	696	34	1	3	11	5	3	20	7	3	1	0	9	.240	.326	.352	.678	101	3308	2028
13	Madison Bumgarner	9.07	217.1	2014	24	SFG	NL	33	33	4	2	0	18	10	.643	0	194	81	72	43	219	2.98	3.05	116	21	873	810	40	2	3	6	9	5	18	7	10	6	1	4	.240	.281	.372	.653	91	3372	2290
14	Jon Lester	9.01	219.2	2014	30	TOT	AL	32	32	1	1	0	16	11	.593	0	194	76	60	48	220	2.46	2.80	155	16	885	821	43	3	0	5	6	5	21	16	5	0	0	3	.236	.281	.354	.635	79	3493	2279

Nathan Eovaldi pitching for Dodgers in LA
June 30, 2012
by Cbl62 via Wikimedia Commons

So despite being number four in fastball velocity among starting pitchers, Nathan Eovaldi had a SO9 rate of only 6.40, number 68.  And despite being number 35 in innings pitched with 199.66, Eovaldi allowed the most hits: 223.  Larry Rothschild has a lot of work to do with Eovaldi.

This is the pitcher the Yankees found so compelling that they traded Martin Prado.  Some people are applauding the Yankees for getting younger.  Compared to what?  How could they have possibly gotten older than 40 year old shortstop Derek Jeter?  The Yankees will try a minor league player at second instead of Prado.  They could have done that and played 31 year old Prado at third; Prado was under contract for the next two seasons.  Instead the Yankees signed 30 year old free agent Chase Headley for four years at more annual money than they would have paid Prado for half the commitment and Headley has been much more injury prone than Prado.

What, if anything, do the Yankees have in mind?