Nathan Eovaldi Set to Snap Drought as Texas Rangers' Opening Day Starting Pitcher

The last time the Texas Rangers had the same pitcher serve as their Opening Day starter in back-to-back seasons was Kevin Millwood over 15 years ago.

Oakland, California, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) delivers a pitch against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. | Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

When Nathan Eovaldi takes the mound against his former team next week, he will be making history for his current one.

The Texas Rangers pegged Eovaldi as their Opening Day starting pitcher last weekend, giving him the honor for the second year in a row. He will face off against Garrett Crochet and the Boston Red Sox on March 27.

As noted by the Rangers' PR team, only six other pitchers in team history have made consecutive Opening Day starts. Eovaldi will become the first to achieve the feat since Kevin Milwood earned the nod four years in a row between 2006 and 2009.

Scott Feldman, C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis, Matt Harrison, Tanner Scheppers, Yovani Gallardo, Cole Hamels, Yu Darvish, Mike Minor, Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, Jon Gray and Jacob deGrom have each taken on the mantle in the 16 years since.

Ken Hill, Nolan Ryan, Charlie Hough, Jon Matlack and Dick Bosman are the other pitchers who have logged consecutive Opening Day starts in a Rangers uniform, all doing so prior to the 21st century.

Eovaldi previously made three Opening Day starts in a row with the Red Sox between 2020 and 2022. In his four career appearances in regular season openers, Eovaldi is 1-1 with a 2.82 ERA and 0.985 WHIP.

No Rangers pitcher has a higher WAR than Eovaldi over the past two seasons. He is 24-13 with a 3.72 ERA and 1.122 WHIP since arriving in Texas, coming off his 26-18 record, 4.05 ERA and 1.269 WHIP in Boston.

First pitch between the Rangers and Red Sox from Globe Life Field is slated for 4:05 p.m. ET next Thursday.

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