Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi will have elbow surgery on Thursday and will be out of action for 4-6 weeks, a source confirmed to ESPN.

The Athletic first reported that Eovaldi would have surgery.

The Red Sox placed Eovaldi on the injured list Saturday because of a loose body in his right (throwing) elbow. Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski said then there was a chance the loose body, described as cartilage, was there when Eovaldi underwent surgery while with the Tampa Bay Rays in March 2018 and missed two months.

Eovaldi said he didn't experience any symptoms after his start against the New York Yankees last Wednesday, when he tossed six innings while allowing one unearned run, walking one and striking out six.

The 29-year-old knew something was wrong when he could not straighten out his arm during the team's off day in Tampa Bay.

Eovaldi signed a four-year, $68 million deal in December. He is 3-3 with a 4.08 ERA in parts of two season in Boston. So far this year, the hard-throwing righty has a 6.00 ERA in four starts, allowing 14 runs in 21 innings pitched, striking out 16 and walking 11.

When Christian Yelich showed up for the 2018 All-Star Game as a reserve, we all thought we knew who he was: above-average power, above-average speed, above-average defense, pretty good but unexceptional at everything. Yelich wasn't a superstar but certainly good enough to be, say, the fourth-best player on a championship team.

Then in the eighth inning of that game Yelich homered, and in the 400 plate appearances since then he's been the National League's best player. It's easy to overstate 400 plate appearances, even 400 plate appearances as good as Christian Yelich's past 400 have been. Good players go through long and surprising hot streaks. Even mediocre players do sometimes. Careers last 20 or 30 times that long, and a player's 400 best plate appearances get consumed by the much larger record.

But what Yelich has done is different. What we've seen the Milwaukee Brewers slugger do since July 2018 isn't necessarily unprecedented, but it is historic, because we've most likely just seen a player make the Hall of Fame.

A few years ago, I looked at how many WAR a player needed to produce by each age level to be more likely to make the Hall of Fame than not. In other words: Of all the players who had at least X WAR through each age, half made the Hall and half did not. We called "X" the 50 percent probability.

Through age 25, Christian Yelich was right on the bubble. The 50 percent probability mark for 25-year-olds was about 18 WAR, and Yelich had about 19. For 26-year-olds, the mark was 20 WAR. Through the All-Star break last year, Yelich had 21.

He was narrowly on the right side of the line, but you'd have probably been wise to bet against him. The probability mark is a bit of a logical fallacy, generously lumping in those bubble players with the surefire Hall of Famers who had many more WAR at that age. (If 50 percent of players with 18 or more WAR through age 25 make the Hall, far, far, far fewer than 50 percent of players with 20 or fewer WAR do.) The 50 percent probability is less a promise than a guide for figuring out which players' chances are most in flux, like Yelich's.

But Yelich's skill set was also not one likely to be recognized by future voters. He'd never led the league in any statistical category, never hit more than 21 homers or stolen 21 bases, never finished higher than 19th in MVP voting -- itself a good proxy for the sorts of things these same voters would reward a decade or two hence. The 2018 All-Star Game was his first appearance. His most comparable player through age 25, according to Baseball-Reference.com, was Chet Lemon, followed by Johnny Damon. Only one of his 10 most comparable predecessors (Dave Winfield) made the Hall.

Then the All-Star Game happened, and the players came back for the second half, and less than a year later the bubble candidate isn't really on the bubble anymore.

To understand how much Yelich's case improved requires a quick rundown of before-and-after snapshots. At the All-Star break last year, Yelich was hitting .292/.364/.459, and for his career he was a .288/.365/.435 hitter. By OPS+, he was around the 350th best hitter of all time (minimum 3,000 plate appearances), tied with Mike Greenwell, Shane Mack and Chili Davis.

Since then, he has hit .364/.451/.792. In just 400 plate appearances, his career OPS has gone up by 51 points, and those 51 points -- those 400 plate appearances! -- have moved him up more than 200 spots on the career OPS+ leaderboard. He's now ahead of Carl Yastrzemski, Tony Gwynn, Winfield and Eddie Murray. There are still plenty of non-HOF hitters around him, but remember that Yelich was always a do-everything player, and his raw offensive stats now join his baserunning and defensive value to make a player with elite value and bold-ink stats. He ended his age-25 year as the 143rd best player ever through that age by WAR. He ended his age-26 season 88th, with 26.5 WAR, ahead of dozens of non-controversial Hall of Famers. He's not a lock to make the Hall by any means; his career will also have to be built on longevity, as any Hall of Famer's does. But he's now on his way.

This year, he's third in baseball (behind Cody Bellinger and Mike Trout) with 1.9 WAR through Sunday. Just three more WAR this year -- in line with his pre-explosion career levels -- would push him past 31 career WAR, even further ahead of the Hall of Fame pace, which is about 23 WAR through age 27.

If Yelich truly has transformed himself, he'll blow past even that, and all indications are he has. Before last year's All-Star break, he was a hitter who tended to hit the ball to the opposite field and who tended to hit the ball on the ground or on a line. Since then, he has increased his fly ball rate from 12 percent to 24 percent. Most hitters tend to pull ground balls but hit fly balls the other way; Yelich has managed to increase his pull rate at the same time he has increased his fly ball rate, from 38 percent pre-2018 All Star break to 43 percent since.

And almost every fly ball he pulls is hit hard and far. Before last year's midway point, he had slugged .935 on flies. Since then, he has slugged 2.136. He has pulled four fly balls this year, and they've all been home runs. Before last summer, he had never had an OPS over 1.000 in a month. April is all but certain to be his fourth consecutive month over 1.000.

Was there a single swing, a single day, when Yelich became a probable Hall of Famer? Probably not. Maybe it was that swing in the All-Star Game that launched this torrid streak. Maybe it was the seven-hit series he had against the Dodgers coming out of the break, which set the tone for a historic second half. Maybe it was the two-day stretch he had against the Reds in August: two homers one day, six hits the next. Maybe it was September, to that point the best month of his career, when he hit .370/.508/.804 to clinch the MVP award. Maybe Game 1 of the NL Division Series, when he homered to break a scoreless tie and then, in extra innings, walked and scored the winning run.

Maybe it's this month, when he's as hot as you've ever seen a player and the league is finally giving up and starting to just walk him.

But if you can't tell your grandkids about one game, you'll surely be able to recount this four-month stretch, when we've all started watching every Yelich at-bat. We've realized that until 400 plate appearances ago, we didn't know Yelich at all. How grateful we should be that now we do.

We’ve teamed up with NN Running Team and have three copies of their stunning photo-led world record celebration publication to give away

On September 16, 2018, history was made.

Running the BMW Berlin Marathon in 2:01:39, Eliud Kipchoge obliterated the world record.

“No human is limited.”

In celebration of Kipchoge’s incredible achievement, NN Running Team and his management agency Global Sports Communication worked with photographer Dan Vernon to create a stunning photo-led publication which highlights the journey and work that went into the world record from Kipchoge and all those around him.

Starting with snapshots of Kipchoge training in Kenya, the book includes insight into his life and motivation and goes on to show the 34-year-old in world record-breaking action on the roads of Berlin.

Each page lists a kilometre of the marathon along with Kipchoge’s time at that mark in Berlin. His average pace was a jaw-dropping 69.19 per 400m, 4:38.4 per mile and 14:24.9 per 5km.

Kipchoge inspires many with his words as well as his performances, and the publication also features quotes from the Kenyan as he describes the importance of teamwork and the power of the mind.

“Nothing is stronger than a peaceful mind.”

“100 per cent of me is nothing compared to one per cent of the whole team.”

The book isn’t available to buy but we’ve teamed up with NN Running Team and have three copies up for grabs for AW readers.

How to enter

For your chance to win one of three copies of the book ‘Eliud Kipchoge – 2:01:39’, simply complete the form below, correctly answering the competition question.

Terms and conditions

Competition closes at 12 noon BST on Monday April 29, 2019. One entry only per person.

Click here for AW’s competition terms and conditions.

Great Britain have ended a 26-year wait for promotion to Fed Cup World Group II this weekend with a 3-1 play-off win over Kazakhstan.

You would have to go all the way back to 1993 to find the last time Britain were in the World Group of women's team tennis.

Since then, there have been five UK prime ministers, 21 versions of the iPhone, and seven football World Cups.

"Five Live" was the UK's number one at the time - a set of tracks performed by George Michael, Queen, and Lisa Stansfield at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert.

But what else has happened since Britain dropped out of the World Group 26 years ago?

Three of Britain's Fed Cup team have been born...

Take That have had 12 number one singles...

Roger Federer has won 20 Grand Slam titles...

The number of worldwide mobile phone subscriptions has increased...

There have been 11 Olympic tennis singles champions...

Average house prices have more than doubled...

And Manchester United have won 22 domestic trophies and three European titles...

Australia reached their first Fed Cup final for 26 years with a 3-2 win over Belarus in Brisbane.

Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur beat Victoria Azarenka and Aryna Sabalenka 7-5 3-6 6-2 in the deciding doubles tie to seal victory.

Barty also won both her singles matches, while US Open champion Stosur lost twice.

In November's final, Australia will host France, who beat favourites Romania 3-2 on Sunday.

French Open champion Simona Halep won both of her singles matches for Romania but victories for France's Kristina Mladenovic and Pauline Parmentier - against Mihaela Buzarnescu and Irina-Camelia Begu respectively - meant the tie went into a doubles decider.

Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia, who had not played together since the 2016 Fed Cup final after a public fall-out, came from behind to beat Halep and Monica Niculescu 5-7 6-3 6-4 and clinch victory for two-time champions France.

Romania, who beat defending champions the Czech Republic in an epic quarter-final, had been bidding to reach their first final.

France's most recent Fed Cup title was in 2003, while Australia won the last of their seven titles in 1974.

Australia's team of Rennae Stubbs, Elizabeth Smylie and Nicole Provis lost 3-0 to Spain in the 1993 final.

"It's super exciting. We all work so hard all year and we're such a tight team," said Stosur. "We're going to be giving it our best shot here in November."

Great Britain ended a 26-year wait for Fed Cup promotion when Katie Boulter fought back to seal their 3-1 win over Kazakhstan and spark jubilant scenes.

The team raced on to the court and hugged Boulter after she beat Zarina Diyas 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-1.

The British number two trailed by a set and a break - and needed a hot water bottle on her back during changeovers - but refused to give up.

Johanna Konta had earlier put Britain one win away from World Group II.

Konta's own stunning comeback from 4-1 down in the final set to beat Yulia Putintseva 4-6 6-2 7-5 had given the home crowd in London belief that Britain would finally earn promotion in what was their fifth play-off in eight years.

For a while, it seemed the wait would continue as Boulter lost her grip on the match, having won the opening two games, but when she completed her comeback with an emphatic ace on match point, the celebrations began.

"Ah, finally! I'm ecstatic for the team," said Britain captain Anne Keothavong, whose team paraded around the Copper Box Arena, firing tennis balls into the crowd.

"It was such an incredible effort. We kept putting ourselves in this position. But I really feel that having the home advantage this time around made a big difference."

Celebratory scenes as Boulter finishes the job

After watching Konta come from 4-1 down in the deciding set to beat Kazakh number one Putintseva, Boulter knew victory in her match would seal the tie for Britain.

Boulter admitted she was "struggling physically" during her defeat by Putintseva on Saturday and although she swiftly took a 2-0 lead in the opening set, she repeatedly sat with a hot water bottle on her back during changeovers.

Diyas - who Konta needed two hours and 38 minutes to beat on Saturday - started to find her groove and responded to take the set to a tie-break.

Boulter said Saturday's dramatic defeat - which came despite her holding three match points - would stay in her mind "for a long time" and she seemed nervous - only picking up one point as Diyas comfortably won the tie-break 7-1.

The Kazakh gained the advantage in the second set too but was seemingly distracted by a car alarm seconds before double-faulting and allowing Boulter to break back at 2-2.

The addition of a few drums in the British crowd - to compete with the noisy Kazakh band that had been providing a soundtrack to the action - built a more intimidating atmosphere and Boulter thrived off their support, breaking again late to win the set.

Diyas and Boulter had already suffered three-set defeats this weekend but the Briton was determined not to lose another.

The 22-year-old British number two was quickly 2-0 up before she held off a break point in the third game of the third set - prompting a standing ovation from the home fans.

A lucky net cord helped bring up break point for Boulter at 3-0 up but Diyas saved it with a thumping serve.

That only delayed Boulter's move to increase her advantage as she turned up the gears to make it 5-1.

Konta, fresh from her victory, joined Heather Watson, Katie Swan and Harriet Dart on court ready to celebrate.

And Boulter, on her third match point, threw her arms up in celebration as the crowd erupted in joy.

"I was so nervous watching Katie on the side of the court," said Konta. "I'm sweating so much. We have been in this position for the last three years in a row.

"I am almost speechless which is not normal. I'm still sweating!"

Konta battles back again

Konta has not done things the easy way in the Fed Cup of late - her past five matches in the women's team tennis competition have gone to three sets.

And so she was always going to be in for a battle against Kazakh number one Putintseva, who fought back from 5-2 down in the third set to win the tie-break against Boulter on Saturday.

World number 38 Putintseva - ranked eight places above Konta - showed no signs of tiredness against the Briton, holding off three break points in her first service game before needing just one to take a 2-1 lead.

Konta, who had started with intensity and good variation, broke back immediately and seemed to feed off a much more vocal home crowd.

When Putintseva broke again to move 5-4 up before serving for the first set, Konta responded by silencing the noisy Kazakh band's drums and trumpet for most of the second set - breaking twice and winning 68% of the total points in a dominant display.

Momentum was with the Briton but the crowd were still wary - they had seen Putintseva come from behind the previous day.

The Kazakh was given a taste of her own medicine, though, as it was Konta who completed a resilient fightback.

Putintseva had shown signs of weakness. She had her blood pressure taken during a medical time-out, while ice was applied to her neck and head while she trailed 3-0 in the second set.

Konta went on to take that set in style but then went 4-1 down in the third - two quick breaks followed a time violation and the Briton showed her frustrations by arguing with the umpire.

She did not give up, though, finally breaking back at the third time of asking at 4-2 and went on to win 16 of the last 19 points to seal her 11th successive Fed Cup singles victory.

Britain's Fed Cup captain Anne Keothavong is "in awe" of her players after they won promotion to World Group II for the first time in 26 years.

Every match in their 3-1 play-off win over Kazakhstan in London was a nerve-shredding three-setter.

Katie Boulter was a set and break down before the decisive win over Zarina Diyas, and Johanna Konta trailed 4-1 in the third set against Yulia Putintseva.

"It was such an incredible effort," Keothavong said.

"I am just totally in awe of these women."

Boulter's 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-1 triggered wild celebrations after Great Britain finally got themselves out of the third tier of women's team tennis after four failures at the same stage in the previous seven years.

Keothavong, who played in two of those play-offs and captained the others, said the victory at the Copper Box Arena was "right up there" as one of her best achievements in tennis.

"I couldn't get there as a player but to be able to captain this achievement and to finally achieve it together after so long is definitely a highlight for me," she said.

"Watching the players develop and grow; watching Jo lead this team as the number one; playing a small part in something much bigger is a very proud moment for me."

Konta, whose stunning 4-6 6-2 7-5 victory over Putintseva on Sunday had put Britain one win away from promotion, said she was "speechless" following the team's triumph.

"I have dreamed of being a part of the team that was able to achieve this," the world number 46 added.

'Springboard for bigger things'

Keothavong hopes Fed Cup success will provide a "springboard for bigger and better things" for 22-year-old Boulter.

The British number two was impressive on her debut at February's Europe/Africa Zone round-robin event in Bath, winning all of her singles rubbers.

She held three match points against Kazakh number one Putintseva on Saturday although she eventually lost, but she picked herself up - despite a back problem - to win the tie with the comeback win over Diyas.

She has shot up the world rankings in the past year and is now ranked 86th after breaking into the top 100 in November.

And in January Boulter, alongside British team-mate Cameron Norrie, beat 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams and Frances Tiafoe in the mixed doubles at the Hopman Cup.

"For Katie, this can be used as a springboard for bigger and better things. The players need to use it in a positive way," Keothavong said.

Boulter said she will learn from the experience, especially the defeat by Putintseva that she said at the time would stay in her mind "for a long time".

"We all have good days and bad days but I will fight and get up for the next match no matter what the circumstances are," Boulter said.

'Utterly brilliant', 'inspired', 'an amazing achievement' - reaction to the GB's success

Former British number one Annabel Croft, now a television commentator and analyst: "Absolutely amazing weekend of tennis. Congrats to Johanna Konta, Katie Boulter, Anne Keothavong and the rest of the Fed Cup team. Inspired performances with home fans cheering at the Copper Box.

British doubles player Jamie Murray, who helped the nation win the Davis Cup in 2015: "What a weekend for the GB Fed Cup team! Amazing achievement girls!"

Leon Smith, Britain's Davis Cup captain: "That was utterly brilliant from our GB Fed Cup Team. This team deserves so much praise. Well done all. Bring on the World Group! Come on!!"

Anne Keothavong was a playing member of Great Britain's Fed Cup team when they made the trip to Sweden for the 2012 World Group play-off.

Seven years, and three further play-off disappointments later, she is now the captain of a side which finally has the chance to discover whether it can be competitive against the world's elite.

GB's 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan at London's Copper Box Arena ensures a return to World Group level of the Fed Cup for the first time since 1993.

The format for next year's competition is far from signed off. But, for the first time in a generation, Britain will at least start the year with a theoretical chance of lifting the trophy.

The International Tennis Federation hopes to introduce a week-long Finals featuring 12 teams from next April.

The plan is for this year's semi-finalists to be joined by the winners of eight play-off ties to be staged in February.

Interest from host nations was sought in March. Budapest is said to be among the cities to have put its name forward, but financing the event is another matter.

The ITF is understood to have pledged prize money in excess of $10m (£7.7m), and that money is supposed to be generated by the host city.

There is also a fair amount of opposition to the concept. WTA tournaments staged in the weeks either side of the proposed Finals will expect to see traditionally strong fields depleted.

And there are players - and many fans - who resent the potential reduction in the number of home ties which generate the special atmosphere evident this weekend.

Keothavong, who says she has not yet been asked her views by the ITF, admits to being in two minds about whether the reforms are in the best interests of the sport.

"I'm not sure," Britain's captain says. "We've waited so long for a home tie and now we've got it.

"The support we had was something we might not experience again, so it's hard to know. I don't know what the right format is for this competition."

If the planned reform flounders, the ITF is likely to create one 16-team World Group for 2020, played on a knockout basis with the final four competing for the title in November.

Either way, Britain will have its work cut out to make progress.

Potential opponents include Japan (featuring world number one Naomi Osaka); Romania (featuring world number two Simona Halep); the Czech Republic (with two top five players in their ranks); and the United States (who have three top 20 players to choose from).

Britain does not currently have any singles' players in the world's top 40, and yet in Johanna Konta and Katie Boulter do have two players you underestimate at your peril.

Konta appears, at times, to be overwhelmed by nerves. Her game goes off the boil, and yet she invariably recovers, and should be mightily proud to have won 11 singles matches in a row.

At 3-5 down in the deciding set against Yulia Putintseva on Sunday, she won 16 of the last 18 points of the match. She was simply brilliant, and is developing a steely Fed Cup persona.

Boulter is much earlier in her Fed Cup career, but four singles wins in four days in February's qualifying round in Bath were followed here by a very near miss against Putintseva (a match she should have won), and then a courageous comeback against Zarina Diyas.

With a hot water bottle tucked down the back of her skirt to soothe a bad back at change of ends, she clinched the tie by running away with the final set. Some shrink, where Boulter seems to thrive.

The pair will undoubtedly need the support of others if Britain are to become a force at World Group level.

Heather Watson has had a shocking time in singles of late, but is a Grand Slam doubles champion. If she can forge a potent partnership with Harriet Dart, a natural doubles player with singles aspirations of her own, Britain will add another line of defence.

Katie Swan only turned 20 last month and is now a top 200 player with four Fed Cup wins to her name.

And looking a little further ahead, there is 16-year-old Emma Raducanu, who Keothavong hopes "will be knocking on the door soon".

The team spirit seems genuine, and so optimism should not be frowned upon - especially as, for the first time for more than a quarter of the century, the team will not have to endure the annual tribulations of Europe-Africa zone qualifying.

It will be a shame if Britain is not able to host home ties on a regular basis - the LTA proved again at the Copper Box that they know how to put on a really good show - but at least the stakes will be higher in future.

That, in turn, means the profile will be higher. And that is outstanding news for women's tennis in the UK.