ARLINGTON, Texas — Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi is likely done for the season because of a rotator cuff strain, another huge blow to the Texas Rangers and their hopes of making a late push for a playoff spot.
Eovaldi, who is 11-3 with a career-best 1.73 ERA in 22 starts but just short of the innings needed to qualify as the MLB leader, was among the favorites for the American League Cy Young Award.
He said Tuesday that he had an MRI after shutting down a bullpen session between starts because of continued soreness. The 35-year-old pitcher said he was more sore than normal but was surprised by those results since he hasn’t had any shoulder issues in his 14 MLB seasons.
“It just felt like it was getting a little worse, so I shut it down and had the trainers look at it,” Eovaldi said. “Obviously, it’s just frustrating given how great the season’s been going. … I don’t want to rule out the rest of the season, but it’s not looking very great.”
Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young said Eovaldi likely will be put on the 15-day injured list Wednesday. He was supposed to start against the Los Angeles Angels in another opportunity to become MLB’s qualified ERA leader.
After allowing one run in seven innings against the Cleveland Guardians in his last start Friday, Eovaldi was the official ERA leader for one night. That put him at 130 innings in 130 Rangers games, and ahead of All-Star starters Paul Skenes (2.07) and Tarik Skubal (2.28) until Texas played the following day — pitchers need to average one inning per team game to qualify.
Entering Tuesday, Eovaldi was tied for third among AL Cy Young favorites with 30-1 odds at ESPN BET.
“Obviously it’s a big blow. He’s been just a tremendous teammate and competitor for us all year long,” Young said. “Hate to see this happen to somebody who’s been so important to the organization. But it seems par for the course with how some of the season has gone. So hate it for Evo, hate it for the team.”