ARLINGTON, Texas — How the Texas Rangers use Nathan Eovaldi over the final 10 games is a day-to-day decision, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said before Thursday night’s series finale against the Boston Red Sox at Globe Life Field.
Schumaker made the comments on The Skip Schumaker Show, the pregame segment Rangers Sports Network posted at 6:42 p.m. CT. A night earlier, Eovaldi threw the final 4 innings of a 7-3 win over Boston.
Health stays in the back of Schumaker’s mind with every decision on how to use him.
“This is a day-to-day thing,” Schumaker said. “We have 10 left. I mean, we’re going forward as much as we can and trying to match up the best we can, but there’s some health stuff that we have to make sure that is [in the] back of our mind in protecting the player.”
“But if they’re ready to, then we’re going to use them,” Schumaker added.
Right after Wednesday’s game, Schumaker said Cody Bradford would start the finale, Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports reported. The club later announced left-hander Tyler Alexander as the starter, and Schumaker said Thursday that Bradford would follow as the bulk pitcher.
“But it changes daily based on who we used the night before,” Schumaker explained. “So the fact that we used Evo for four innings changed things going into today.”
Nathan Eovaldi Threw 4 Scoreless Innings Wednesday
Eovaldi (11-9) entered with the game tied 3-3 in the sixth inning. His line the rest of the way was 4 innings, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, and 1 strikeout. He retired the last 11 batters he faced, MLB.com reported. It was his third career relief win and his first since Aug. 14, 2019, with Boston.
Closer Jacob Latz and Robert Garcia were not available Wednesday, Schumaker said after that game. Latz got the final 5 outs Tuesday for his 30th save in 33 chances.
Eovaldi finished Wednesday’s game on a low pitch count.
“Pretty special night for him to come out of the bullpen in front of a home crowd that kind of erupted when they saw him come out of the bullpen,” Schumaker said. “So 3-3 game, needed some innings, some quality innings, some high-leverage innings, and he ended up finishing the game. So it was with a low pitch count, too, which was nice to see. But super effective, gave us a jolt of energy in the dugout and a good quality win.”
Eovaldi wanted to get as many innings as he could, he told Rangers Sports Network after the game.
“With the tie ball game, I was just trying to go in there and try to get as [many] fast outs as possible,” Eovaldi said. “Try to keep the pitch count down and make sure to try to get as many innings as I could.”
Nathan Eovaldi’s Return From Elbow Inflammation
Texas activated Eovaldi from the 15-day injured list Sept. 12. He had not pitched since Aug. 7 because of right posterior elbow inflammation. In his first game back that night at Chase Field, he threw 45 pitches over 2 2/3 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks, allowing 4 hits and 1 earned run with 2 strikeouts.
On Monday, Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young said on 105.3 The Fan’s G-Bag Nation that Eovaldi could move into a longer role by the end of the week if he went unused for a day or two.
Before the injury, Eovaldi was 10-9 with a 4.21 ERA and 137 strikeouts over 22 starts. The 36-year-old is in the second season of a three-year, $75 million contract.
Entering Thursday, Texas was 76-76 and tied with the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West. Houston holds the tiebreaker. The Toronto Blue Jays visit Globe Life Field from Sept. 18 to 20, with first pitch Friday at 7:05 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network.
