Who is Dana Eveland?

by the numbers, and also by the scouting reports, as well, Eveland should be a top prospect. I do think he's just past the 50 IP limit that defines a guy as a pitching prospect. my sense is that Eveland is ignored because:

-prospect hounds ignore him because, technically, he's not a prospect;

-when he did have prospect status, he was good but not great -- it's only his last two years that he thrived in minor league ball, albeit at high levels. one terrific year at AA will earn you a "let's see him do it again"...and once he did it again (in AAA) he was no longer a prospect.

-combining these two factors, there is a buzz factor in looking after prospects: that more people know about Villalona than Eveland shows that, sometimes anyway, there are holes in the fabric.

I have heard the D-backs are really high on Eveland and plan to keep him in the starting rotation, where supposedly he's well suited. Be interesting to follow him...under the radar.

Never looked good at all with the Brewers, kinda like Hendrickson had been.  Just tore up the minors but didn't put together anything at all with the Brewers.  He pretty much got ripped to shreds every time he started, although he had a couple of good relief appearances.  I'm not even a Brewers fan but just from what I saw he wasn't ready for the bigs.

He certainly hasn't looked good at all in the majors - however, he did strike out 32 batters in 27.2 MLB innings and has consistently struck out about a batter an inning in AAA, which are very good markers.

He could be another Rich Hill that will break through at any time.  Then again, he may never adjust to the majors.  However, the K rates tell us that the potential to succeed is definitely there.

His BABIP allowed last year in MLB was .417 and that certainly wouldn't continue over a long period of time, so some improvement is almost certain.

For what it's worth, his top PECOTA comparable is a Hall of Fame pitcher.

Eveland was acquire by the Dbacks along with Doug Davis and Krynzel in the November trade for Johnny Estrada, Claudio Vargas and Greg Aquino. He's got solid command of four pitches, and his slider and curve can be plus pitches, while his fastball hits the low 90s. As the original poster mentioned, he has excellent minor league record, and his two brief stints in the majors aren't really worth worrying about.

The main reason the Brewers gave up on him was because he got into Yost's doghouse last season. To put it bluntly, the kid has got a weight problem. The Brewers had asked him to lose some weight last season, and he showed up even fatter. So that pissed off Yost and signed off his ticket out of town. I'm guessing there's other personal issues there as well.

The Brewers have the depth, with Gallardo, Villanueva (?) and Inman to afford losing Dana; the Dbacks were happy to gamble on him. He's looked slimmer in spring training, and has impressed Bob Melvin so far in the spring. Hopefully the trade was a wake up call for him and he takes better care of his body going forward. He's got significant upside if he can control his weight and stay healthy.

He looks great in the minors, but for whatever reason, just freaks out pitching in the majors.  I have seen him pitch many times in the majors and beside a few good outings when he first got called up in 2005, he has looked horrible.  Either he nibbled and walked everybody, or pitched strikes and got pounded.  

Obviously there is time for him to figure it out, but I have serious doubts.  My guess is that he will end up being a mediocre middle reliever, but he probably has only a couple more chances to prove it.  Hopefully the change of scenery will do him good.