Nathan Eovaldi has a rotator cuff strain and is likely done for the season. President of baseball operations Chris Young relayed the news to reporters, including Kennedi Landry of MLB.com.
The All-Star righty had been listed as the probable starter for tomorrow’s game against the Angels. There was no previous indication he was dealing with an injury. Eovaldi had reeled off seven innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts against the Guardians on Friday. It’s not clear whether he pitched through discomfort toward the end of that appearance or suffered the injury during a between starts throwing session. In either case, he’s headed for the injured list.
It’s the latest blow in a Rangers season that has unraveled. They bought at the deadline. They’d played at a 16-9 pace in July to pull within a few games of a Wild Card spot. Their impressive run differential and seemingly positive trend convinced the front office to push in prospect capital for Merrill Kelly, Phil Maton and Danny Coulombe. They’ve followed up with their worst month of the season.
Texas has played at a 9-14 pace in August to fall below .500. They swept Cleveland over the weekend, more or less driving a nail into the Guardians’ season, but were shut out in last night’s series opener against the Angels. They’ve also lost Evan Carter (wrist fracture), Marcus Semien (foot fracture) and Eovaldi to what may all be season-ending injuries. Overcoming those hits to erase a 5.5 game postseason deficit in the final month seems very unlikely.
Eovaldi has had a brilliant year when healthy. He carries a career-best 1.73 earned run average while working nearly six inning per start. He has earned a quality start in 14 of his 22 appearances. Eovaldi has fanned 26% of batters faced while showing his typical elite command. The only black marks have been injuries. He was limited to one appearance in June by elbow inflammation and will miss all of September with the shoulder issue. Eovaldi has turned in a 2.67 ERA or better in every other month.
This was the first season of his three-year, $75MM contract. Texas has both Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom signed for another two guaranteed years. They’ll go into next season with as much upside as any 1-2 punch in MLB. With both pitchers in their mid-late 30s, however, it’s difficult to count on them to stay healthy. That makes it all the more disappointing that the Rangers have seemingly squandered a season of fantastic production from both veterans.
Eovaldi’s injury comes a few days before the Rangers need to decide whether to wave the white flag and place a number of players on waivers. They could try to dump the salaries of a handful of players (Merrill Kelly, most notably) in an effort to get below the $241MM luxury tax line. Players need to be in an organization by September 1 in order to be playoff eligible, so they’d be much likelier to get claimed if their waivers resolve before the end of August. Waivers take 48 hours to process, meaning players need to land on the wire no later than Friday to be playoff eligible with a claiming team. Texas plays two more against the Angels and is off on Thursday before making that call.
Patrick Corbin takes the mound opposite Yusei Kikuchi tonight. They’ll probably run a spot starter or bullpen game tomorrow. Kumar Rocker is on optional assignment but hasn’t pitched in a Triple-A game in nearly three weeks as he irons out mechanical issues. Caleb Boushley pitched 2 2/3 frames in the minors on Sunday. That essentially leaves long man Jacob Latz, who last pitched on Wednesday, as the only option on the 40-man roster for a spot start.
unfortunate
he coulda won CY if healthy
They should have just traded him away at the deadline.
bing – If he had been healthy all year, sure.
Rangers weren’t going to catch a WC anyway.
Hopefully Nate is as good as new next spring, he’s a great pitcher.
and getting better with age
in his 20s: 4.30 era ,1.37 whip, 7.0 k/9
in his 30s: 3.42 era, 1.11 whip, 9.0 k/9
except he can’t stay healthy.
Another Charlie Morton.
147 2/3 innings per year 2021-2025.
Morton? 162.
Ouch.
And ouch.
When healthy he is awesome
Only wish the Sox would’ve signed him years ago
Good luck next year.
why? so the Sox would be on the hook for his contract after he continues to miss time.
That sucks, dude was having one of the best seasons for a starter could have, probably wins a Cy Young if he had stayed healthy.
Does anyone else get the feeling Bochy is gonna re-retire after the season?
I do.
Either that or he’ll have to use a golf cart to make a mound visit.
Tough watching him come out , late innings so many times a game ,shelling after shelling.
He’s got four World Series rings in the bag and has been one of the best managers in baseball. The Hall of Fame is all but guaranteed for Bruce Bochy.
Two things that don’t last:
1. Dogs that chase cars.
2. Pitchers arms.
With Evo’s injury, there goes the only reason we Rangers’ fans have to watch this underacheiving team the rest of the year.
Chris Young will have to put in some long, long hours to fix this mess.
More than likely, Adolis Garcia and Heim are gone and unless he can figure things out, Josh Jung will be as well.
CY needs to find hitters who have qualilty at-bats and don’t strike out 2 to 3 times a game, like Garcia and Jung.
Always liked him. (And still do) Thought the Yankees made a mistake not pursuing him after he was put on the IL eventually needed surgery that side lined him for a year +.
Eovaldi is so good when he’s healthy, he’s just rarely healthy. Love the guy though, especially after the 2018 postseason run. Hoping for a speedy recovery!
Sorry to hear about the injury. He was such an important part of the Red Sox success when he was a healthy starter. So unfortunate the injury bug keeps getting him. Wish him nothing but the best as he recovers.