The Tampa Bay Rays are close to finalizing a Minor League deal for 32 year-old LHP Dana Eveland, with an invitation to Spring Training as they seek to add pitching depth.
Eveland pitched to a 5.40 ERA (7.33 FIP) across 10 games and 3-1/3 innings for the Atlanta Braves last season. He, however, fared better in stints at Triple-A for the Red Sox, Orioles and Braves, garnering a 4-0 record and 1.95 ERA over 33 games and 55-1/3 innings of work.
Converted to a reliever in 2014, Eveland fanned 23.5% of batters faced over 27-1/3 innings while walking just 5.2%. He was also able to coax a groundball 53.8% of the time. The result was a healthy 2.64 ERA/.220 OBA/.321 SLG/.261 OBP/.582 OPS line.
In a recent piece on Eveland, Ian Malinowski (DRaysBay) found that the lefty was most effective against left-handed batters:
Eveland’s work was evenly split between righties and lefties that season, but the success came mostly against the lefties ― 1.78 FIP compared to 4.71 FIP.
Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) opined that Eveland could be slotted into either a starting or relief role, and I would add that his 2014 L/R FIP splits would allow him to slip into the left-handed specialist role. Malinowski came to the same conclusion.
According to his Texas Leaguers player’s card, Eveland boasts a 90 mph four-seam fastball/sinker combination, and a low 80’s slider with sweeping movement to the glove side of the plate (see the video below). What’s more, the deception created by his arm-slot would undoubtedly play well against left-handed hitters.
Would he be an apt replacement in the rotation should the Rays deal a starter? Probably not. In spite of that, if you are looking for a reliever that could excel in a one-and-done capacity against a left-handed batter, Eveland could be your man.