San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames (2) goes to tag Boston Red Sox third baseman Nate Eaton (40) during a MLB game between the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants. Photo: Trinity Machan/Icon Sportswire
Nate Eaton, a 21st-round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft out of VMI, was called up by the Boston Red Sox last month, and the Thomas Dale High alum is hitting .286 with a .714 OPS in 24 plate appearances with the Sox in 13 games.
Eaton is a special kid for me – I was the color guy for VMI Baseball on ESPN+ for eight years, including the 2016 and 2018 seasons that he played on the post.
At VMI, Eaton hit .286 with an .857 OPS, 14 homers, 49 RBIs and 46 stolen bases.
Eaton also pitched in 28 games, with three starts, in his two seasons in Lexington, with a 4-1 record, 7.20 ERA and 1.91 WHIP, with 46 Ks and 40 bases on balls in 45 innings.
His fastball topped out at 99 mph, which I saw registered on the scoreboard at Gray-Minor Stadium numerous times calling his games.
The issue being: yeah, the walks, too many of them.
Eaton got his first call-up to the bigs in 2022 with the Kansas City Royals, the organization that drafted him, and in 178 plate appearances in the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Royals, Eaton hit .201 with a .549 OPS, one homer and 13 RBIs, and 14 steals.
He also pitched in one game, in 2023, striking out one and allowing two hits in a scoreless inning at the end of an 11-2 loss at Texas.
***
Eaton was one of three members of the 2018 VMI Baseball team taken in that year’s MLB Draft.
Josh Winder, a 6’5” right-hander from Richmond, was a seventh-round pick, and made his MLB debut with the Minnesota Twins in 2022, going 4-6 with a 4.70 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 67.0 innings that year.
In parts of three seasons with the Twins, Winder, a James River High alum, is 6-7 with a 4.39 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 110.2 innings.
At VMI, Winder was 16-16 with a 4.52 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 279 Ks in 279.0 innings.
Winder is currently a free agent after suffering an injury in spring training that required Tommy John surgery.
The other 2018 VMI draftee is outfielder Matt Pita, a Richmond native who went in the 12th round to the New York Yankees.
Pita, a Cosby High alum, reached the Triple-A level in 2021, hitting seven homers in 28 games with the Yankees’ affiliate in Scranton-Wilkes Barre, and spent the 2024 season with the Lincoln Saltdogs in the American Association, an independent league.
At VMI, Pita hit .359 with a 1.067 OPS, 32 HRs, 116 RBIs and 40 steals.