Texas Rangers Star Breaks Out New Pitch During Spring Training Debut

This Texas Rangers rotation stalwart is apparently tinkering with another pitch to add to his arsenal in 2025.

Sep 29, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) pitches during the third inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

A pitcher’s first spring training game outing is normally not something to overreact to, whether it’s a great outing or a sub-par one.

On paper, Texas Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi’s first outing of the spring on Friday against Kansas City didn’t look great. He threw two innings, gave up two hits and two runs. He also struck out one and walked one.

But there appears to be a good reason why the 35-year-old right-hander wasn’t as dominant as one might expect. He’s working on a new pitch.

The Alvin, Texas, product has used four pitches in previous seasons, with a heavy lean on a four-seam fastball and a slider, per Statcast.

But, as he told on-site outlets including MLB.com on Friday, he’s tinkering with a two-seam fastball.

“I've been working on that two-seam runner,” Eovaldi said. “It wasn't as great today. In the offseason, the TrackMan results were awesome. We had good results from it and I was throwing it like I wanted to. Today, I was, I think, a little quick with everything. That’s a little something to work on. I'm not going to be done with the pitch. I still believe in it.”

Retaining Eovaldi was a priority for Texas this offseason, even as he declared for free agency by opting out of his 2025 vesting option, which he triggered after he threw at least 300 innings in two years with Texas. Even though he had month-long injury stints both seasons, he still threw 314 innings.

Texas got a deal done with Eovaldi as the winter meetings started in December, as he agreed to a three-year, $75 million deal that will make him the No. 2 pitcher in the rotation behind Jacob deGrom.

With deGrom hurt much of the last two seasons, Eovaldi has pitched like the staff’s ace.

In two seasons with Texas, he went 24-13 with a 3.72 ERA in 54 starts.

Last season he struck out 24 percent of the hitters he faced, his best rate since 2021 with Boston. He went 12-8 with a 3.80 ERA in 170.2 innings with 166 strikeouts.

During the Rangers’ 2023 World Series championship season, he went 12-5 with a 3.63 ERA in 25 starts, with 132 strikeouts in 144 innings. He burnished his postseason credentials as he posted another impressive playoff run, as he went 5-0 in six playoff starts.

His postseason history is one reason he was in demand as a free agent. In the playoffs, Eovaldi has a career record of 9-1 with a 2.85 ERA in 12 starts. He also won a World Series ring with Boston in 2018.