Texas Rangers Place Nathan Eovaldi On 15-Day Injured List, Lose Nolan Kingham To Seattle Mariners

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Texas Rangers placed right-hander Nathan Eovaldi on the 15-day injured list Monday with right posterior elbow inflammation. The stint is retroactive to Aug. 9, which sets his earliest return date at Aug. 24. The corresponding move brought right-hander Ben Peoples back from Triple-A Round Rock.

Eovaldi’s last start came Aug. 7 against the Baltimore Orioles, when he threw 86 pitches in a 2-1 win (5 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO).

He is 10-9 with a 4.21 ERA over 22 starts this season, with 137 strikeouts against 32 walks across 132 2/3 innings and a 1.206 WHIP. Opponents are hitting .250 against him, and he has allowed 24 home runs. His 2024 total was 23 over 170 2/3 innings.

The elbow diagnosis is the same one that cost Eovaldi a month a year ago, when he sat from May 29 to June 26. His 2025 season ended that August with a right rotator cuff strain, and he had surgery to repair a sports hernia in October.

Eovaldi finished 2025 at 11-3 with a 1.73 ERA, 129 strikeouts, and 21 walks over 130 innings. Texas signed him to a three-year, $75 million deal in December 2024 that runs through 2027.

Four days before the injured list move, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker set a five-man rotation that included Eovaldi. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery would work out of the bullpen following his reinstatement, Schumaker said, per Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News.

Seattle Mariners Claim Nolan Kingham

The Seattle Mariners claimed right-hander Nolan Kingham off waivers Monday, both clubs announced, three days after Texas designated him for assignment to clear the 40-man roster spot Montgomery needed coming off the 60-day injured list. Kingham reports to Triple-A Tacoma. With three vacancies on its 40-man roster, Seattle needed no corresponding move.

Kingham was 29 when he debuted Aug. 3 against the San Francisco Giants, eight years after the Atlanta Braves drafted him in the 12th round out of Texas. He faced six batters in his single inning, allowing a hit and two walks while striking out one, and a run scored.

Kingham opened this season in the Mexican League with Sultanes de Monterrey, where he went 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA over six starts and struck out 29 against six walks. Texas signed him to a minor league contract in late May. At Round Rock he went 2-5 with a 6.99 ERA over 11 games and 10 starts (46 1/3 IP, 55 H, 36 ER, 17 BB, 44 SO).

Across six minor league seasons in the Braves and Rangers systems, Kingham is 26-36 with a 4.56 ERA over 513 1/3 innings. He turns 30 on Aug. 18.

Texas Recalls Ben Peoples From Round Rock

Saturday was the deadline for left-hander MacKenzie Gore to come off the paternity list, and Texas optioned Peoples to Round Rock to make room.

Peoples carries a 2.19 ERA through 12 relief appearances in his rookie season, having allowed 10 hits and three earned runs over 12 1/3 innings with three walks and six strikeouts. Three of the 10 hits were home runs. His most recent outing, on Aug. 3 against San Francisco, was a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout.

Texas acquired Peoples from the Chicago White Sox on June 30 for High-A catcher Ben Hartl. Neither was on a 40-man roster. He debuted four days later at 25. With Triple-A Charlotte before the trade, he had a 2.39 ERA over 29 appearances, striking out 45 in 37 2/3 innings.

Monday’s series opener in Anaheim starts at 8:38 p.m. CT, the first of four games at Angel Stadium. Gore (6-9, 4.55 ERA, 140 SO) draws the start. The Rangers arrive at 59-59, holding the third American League wild card spot, and have lost four of six to the Los Angeles Angels this season.