Nathan

Eovaldi

Eovaldi gave up four hits, walked two and struck out three. He had been working out of the bullpen since returning from the injured list, but managed to throw 71 pitches against the Twins Saturday. While he wasn’t able to repeat 2025’s magical 1.73 ERA, Eovaldi turned in a solid season at age-36 with 11 wins, a 4.20 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 144 strikeouts in 145 2/3 innings.

The 36-year-old right-hander has been working out of the bullpen since returning from the injured list on September 12. He hasn’t thrown more than 46 pitches in any of those four outings out of the bullpen, which makes it unlikely that he works deep enough into Saturday’s game to earn a victory.

Eovaldi came into a 3-3 game to start the fifth and went the distance, allowing just one hit in the process. He threw 46 pitches in his second appearance since coming off the IL. The Rangers will probably give him another long relief appearance this weekend before maybe sliding him back into the rotation next week.

The timing here is a bit of a stunner, but the Rangers apparently will use Eovaldi out of the pen for now. Perhaps they’ll aim to get him back in the rotation during the final 7-10 days if they’re still in the race. Eovaldi had been out since Aug. 10 with elbow inflammation. He’s returning without a rehab assignment.

The Rangers could certainly use Eovaldi as they sit roughly three games behind the Astros for the AL West division title with just over two weeks left on the calendar. The 36-year-old veteran has been out with elbow inflammation since early August. There should be an idea of his next steps by the conclusion of the weekend.

The 36-year-old right-hander came away from the session feeling good. The Rangers will wait and see how he’s feeling on Friday before determining whether the next step in his throwing progression will be another bullpen or a live batting practice session.

Eovaldi, who threw from flat ground on Tuesday, is aiming to make it back to help the Rangers before the regular season wraps up. The 36-year-old veteran hit the injured list with elbow inflammation back on August 10. He’s going to need a couple weeks to ramp back up, but it doesn’t sound like he’s done for the year.

Eovaldi was slated to take the ball against the Angels on Wednesday. The fact that he’s dealing with posterior elbow inflammation is a relatively encouraging sign, but fantasy managers are probably going to have to wait for additional evaluation and imaging before drawing any definitive conclusions. The 36-year-old has posted a serviceable 4.21 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 137/32 K/BB ratio across 132 2/3 innings this season. He’s been a borderline top-75 range fantasy starter on the year. There should be some additional clarity on his status in the coming days.

Eovaldi’s start was solid per the box score, but he wasn’t particularly sharp and benefitted from some helpful batted ball luck. He didn’t command his cutter well as far too many sat in the heart of the plate against both right and left-handed batters. His fastball also had good and bad moments and the Orioles hit both of those pitches hard. His splitter was able to bail him out on a few occasions though and he did well to limit the damage to just one run. He left this start with a 4.21 ERA, 137 strikeouts, and 32 walks through 132 2/3 innings on the season. Next up, he’s scheduled to face the Angels.

MLB Network’s Jon Morosi hears the same. Eovaldi has no-trade protection, which can be a big hurdle with deadline deals. If the Rangers sell, they’d be doing so while still possessing a 37 percent chance of reaching the playoffs, according to Fangraphs’ odds. They’re in a virtual tie with the Mariners, 2 1/2 games back of the Astros in the AL West.