Anthony Eyanson is hardly a "hidden gem" in the Boston Red Sox organization these days, but it's worth continuing to document every accomplishment in hopes that more of this fan base will get to know him before his major league debut.
Tuesday night was just Eyanson's seventh start as a professional, and his second since his promotion to Double-A. It's crazy to even think about looking ahead to the major league debut for someone with that little experience, but Eyanson is proving to be the exception. We can't help it, because he simply couldn't be doing any more.
Facing the Reading Fightin' Phils, Eyanson went five scoreless innings with three walks allowed and four strikeouts. However, for the second time already as a professional, he didn't allow a single hit to the opposition.
Eyanson has now thrown 29 1/3 innings in total, and he's only given up 10 hits. Even when you add his seven walks and one hit batsmen to that total, his WHIP stands at a measly 0.58.
Here's perhaps the best stat on Eyanson's season so far: the two runs he gave up were both solo home runs. He's not allowing any semblance of traffic on the bases, which also means barely any of his innings are putting stress on his arm. At this point, he looks like a big-leaguer in need of better competition.
One can imagine the Red Sox will keep Eyanson at Double-A for at least a few more starts, and if all goes according to plan, he could be at Triple-A sometime in the summer. Would Boston consider promoting him to the majors, though, knowing they did the same with Payton Tolle in his professional debut last year?
That's a question that has as much to do with the Red Sox's needs and injury situation as it does Eyanson's progress, and it's too early to know how all that will shake out. But it's fair to say Eyanson is ahead of Tolle's pace to the big leagues at this time last year, so Red Sox fans should start tracking his starts with a rapt eye.