Rangers Move Cy Young Contender Nathan Eovaldi to IL Amid Flurry of Roster Moves

The Texas Rangers made a ton of roster moves on Sunday, and one involved their ace.

Apr 13, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) walks to the dugout during a sixth inning pitching change against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

It was not a slow Sunday to get things started for the Texas Rangers.

They made a flurry of roster moves, and one of them involved putting their ace Nathan Eovaldi on the injured list.

As was first reported by Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News, the Rangers have put the star right-hander on the IL and have selected the contract of Codi Heuer as the corresponding move.

This is a huge loss for Texas.

Eovaldi has been one of the best starting pitchers in Major League Baseball this season with a ridiculous 1.56 ERA through his 12 starts, putting him second among starters behind only Kris Bubic of the Kansas City Royals and firmly into the AL Cy Young conversation. Eovaldi's WHIP of 0.81 is tied for second beyond only reigning award winner Tarik Skubal.

Not having their star leading the rotation will be a major loss for the Rangers.

It's well-documented that this offense is not producing at the clip that many expected, so having an elite pitching staff like they do has been the only reason why they are still alive in the playoff and AL West hunt.

Hopefully this triceps issue is something Eovaldi can get over quickly.

As for Heuer, he'll be making his first appearance in the Majors since 2021 with the Chicago Cubs.
He underwent Tommy John surgery the following year and then suffered a fractured elbow in 2023, injuries that caused him to miss both the 2022 and 2024 campaigns, respectively.

The right-hander signed a minor league deal with Texas in April of this year.

While the Eovaldi news is going to get the majority of attention and headlines, that wasn't where the roster moves ended.

Catcher Tucker Barnhart was designated for assignment, too.

This makes sense because Kyle Higashioka has returned from his injured list stint, so carrying three catchers on the active roster didn't make a whole lot of sense.

No word has been announced at the time of writing regarding who is going to take Barnhart's spot on the roster.