By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
As the Philadelphia Phillies continue to look at bolstering their pitching staff — both internally and externally — MLB.com's Bill Chastain reports the club reportedly was among four teams to have "scouts or representatives" at Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Nathan Eovaldi's most recent start, Monday, July 2 at Marlins Park.
Joining the Phillies in attendance were the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox and the Atlanta Braves. Eovaldi received the no-decision, allowing a pair of runs on eight hits and a walk through six frames and 93 pitches (67 strikes). Two of the eight surrendered hits went for extra bases — a double to 1B/3B Miguel Rojas and a home run to catcher J.T. Realmuto.
Chastain writes:
"The Rays have played well of late, which suggests they should try to keep the band together. Unfortunately, they are way behind in the American League Wild Card race, and even farther behind in the American League East. … Eovaldi is in the second year of a two-year deal with the Rays. He missed the first year of the contract while rehabbing from his second Tommy John surgery."
Eovaldi, 28, is 40-49 with a 4.20 ERA, 1.357 WHIP, and 574-245 strikeout-to-walk ratio spanning 780 1/3 career innings. The right-hander is earning $2 million in 2018 and will enter free agency in the offseason.
The Houston, Texas, native was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 11th round of the 2008 amateur draft out of Alvin High School — the same school that produced Hall of Fame right-hander Nolan Ryan. Eovaldi has been traded twice thus far in his career, more recently in December 2014 to the New York Yankees.
