Nathan Eovaldi threw an unfair 96-mph cutter to strike out George Springer
On Monday, third baseman Alex Bregman posted video on Instagram of his Astros hitting back-to-back-to-back home runs off Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi when he was with the Rays during the regular season. At the time, Eovaldi said he was not bothered by the video.
In the first inning of Tuesday's ALCS Game 3, Eovaldi offered a response to Bregman's post in the form of an unhittable cutter to George Springer:
Nathan Eovaldi, Unfair 96mph Cutter. 😯 pic.twitter.com/vH2rgJFfuB
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 16, 2018
Eovaldi has always had good stuff, but not always quite like that. What you just witnessed was a truly exceptional cutter, even by his lofty standards:
The MLB average cutter: 88.7 mph
— David Adler (@_dadler) October 16, 2018
Nathan Eovaldi's average cutter: 92.7 mph
Eovaldi's cutter to strike out George Springer in the 1st: 96.1 mph
Adrenaline is running high in the postseason. Some players let it throw them off their game. Others -- Eovaldi clearly among them -- use the added energy to get even better.