Nathan

Eovaldi

Eovaldi was brutal in his first couple starts, but he’s back to his winning form. The right-hander allowed only three hits while needing only 84 pitches to get through the outing, and he struck out seven against two walks. His ERA still sits at 5.40, but it was 11.57 after his first two appearances. Expect that number to continue to drop in the coming weeks, although he’ll face a decent Seattle lineup over the weekend.

Eovaldi served up a solo homer to Brendan Donovan on the first pitch of the game. He recovered to retire the next three batters on ten pitches. After settling in for three more scoreless frames, the Mariners would bring one more run across on a pair of hits in the fifth. Eovaldi completed five innings for the first time in three starts and went on to strand two runners in the sixth. He generated an incredible 22 whiffs to collect seven strikeouts. The 36-year-old right-hander will look to string together another excellent start when he takes on the Athletics in Sacramento next Monday.

The baseball gods have decided to get even with Eovaldi after letting him post a 1.73 ERA with a .243 BABIP last season. After two starts this year, he had a .481 BABIP and an 11.42 ERA. His velocity is fine and he’s managed to strike out 12 in 8 2/3 innings to date, so we wouldn’t worry much about him. He’ll face the Mariners next.

Eovaldi had a great spring and still appeared strong today with his eight strikeouts and his velocity up by one mph from last year. Unfortunately, he gave up two homers anyway and both came with men on. Last year, he allowed multiple homers just twice in 22 starts. Probably not a coincidence is that those outings came back-to-back not long before a shoulder injury got him shut down for the final five weeks. Still, we’d expect him to bounce back nicely next week versus the Orioles.

Eovaldi’s average fastball velocity dripped from 95.4 mph in 2023 to 94.1 mph last season, but he’s come in at 95.2 mph in his five spring starts. He’s a poor bet to make 30 starts — he’s done so only twice, in 2014 and 2021 — but he figures to be plenty valuable while healthy. The Rangers will use him as their Opening Day starter against the Phillies next week.

It’s likely that the decision came down to either Eovaldi or Jacob deGrom, so expect deGrom to get the nod in the Rangers’ home opener. Eovaldi is certainly deserving of the honor after posting a brilliant 1.73 ERA across 22 starts during the 2025 campaign.

Eovaldi struck out five and walked none while dealing with some lengthy waits as the Rangers racked up 18 runs over the first three innings. He has a 4.11 ERA through four starts, and his stuff looks much like it did while he was going 11-3 with a 1.73 ERA in 22 starts before hurting his shoulder last season.

Eovaldi struck out four and issued just one walk while building his pitch count to 68 (49 strikes) in his latest spring tune-up. The 36-year-old veteran has been quietly excellent on a per-start basis over the last three seasons since arriving in Texas, even as injuries have kept the volume in check. Those durability concerns naturally cap his realistic fantasy ceiling, but the underlying performance remains that of a high-end starter when he’s on the mound. He fits comfortably in the top-50 range among fantasy starters this spring — the type of calculated gamble where the risk is obvious, but the sky-high floor is equally tantalizing.

Eovaldi built up his pitch count to 43 (29 strikes) in his second spring outing, scattering two hits and one walk in the process. The 36-year-old veteran hurler has topped at least 130 innings in three consecutive seasons since arriving in Texas, allaying some of the concerns regarding his durability. He belongs squarely in the top-50 starting pitcher conversation in fantasy drafts this spring.

Eovaldi allowed all three runs on homers. He gave up a solo blast to Salvador Perez, and a two-run shot to Michael Massey. The stats obviously don’t mean much — if anything — and fantasy managers shouldn’t forget how good Eovaldi was in 2025 with a 1.73 ERA and 129/21 K/BB over his 130 innings.