Eovaldi was named the Red Sox's Opening Day starter Saturday, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.
Eovaldi will be handed the relatively easy task of shutting down the Orioles' lineup next Friday and will line up to face the Mets in his next outing. He wouldn't have gotten the Opening Day nod in a typical season, but with Chris Sale recovering from Tommy John surgery and Eduardo Rodriguez only just reporting to camp Saturday after clearing COVID-19 protocols, he's the team's best available option. Eovaldi has been capable of ace-like stretches at times in his career, though his career 4.30 ERA over eight MLB seasons certainly doesn't meet that mark, and his 5.99 ERA in 67.2 innings last year was quite poor.