It only matters now as a positive sign of health heading into the offseason and next year, but had the Yankees won the wild-card game, they would have put Nathan Eovaldi on the AL Division Series roster as a reliever, The Post has learned.
Eovaldi had been out since Sept. 7 with inflammation in his right elbow. He would have been used as a reliever because there was not enough time to stretch him out to throw enough pitches to start.
Eovaldi finished his first Yankees season with a 14-3 record and 4.20 ERA, and his refinement of a split-finger, in particular, led to overall improvement during the season and made the acquisition of the righty one of the bright spots of the season.