Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi Back in Form as Huge Series with Mariners Awaits

The next time Texas Rangers fans will see Nathan Eovaldi on a pitcher’s mound is this weekend in Seattle. That played a role in pulling him after seven innings against the Athletics on Monday.

Armed with a four-run lead when he left the mound after seven innings, the Rangers (9-7) pushed that lead to 8-0 with a four-run eighth inning at Sutter Health Park. With that, the Rangers decided to go to the bullpen to help secure Eovaldi’s second win of the season.

He said he could have gone another inning. The bullpen likely would have enjoyed the time off. But the right-hander knows what's coming. As big as this series is with the Athletics, this weekend's set with Seattle could be even bigger.

Nathan Eovaldi Turns it Around

Job done 🫡

Evo went 7 shutout innings allowing only 3 hits with 7 strikeouts. pic.twitter.com/gzegAoYtVi
— Rangers Sports Network (@RangersSNtv) April 14, 2026

“It was a long sit,” Eovaldi said of the four-run eighth inning to Rangers Sports Network. “We’ve got Seattle coming up and another big-game series. I felt good the entire time out. But it was just trying to make sure we were ready to go for the eighth [inning] or the ninth [inning], if that was needed. With the long sit we decided it was probably the safest bet to end the night that way.”

Eovaldi (2-2) seems to have turned things around after an uncharacteristic uneven start to the season. His first two starts and his last two starts couldn’t have been more different:

March 26 vs. Philadelphia (loss): 4.2 innings, eight hits, five earned runs, seven strikeouts, no walks

April 1 vs. Baltimore (loss): 4.2 innings, eight hits, six earned runs, five strikeouts, three walks

April 7 vs. Seattle (win): six innings, six hits, two earned runs, seven strikeouts, two walks

April 13 vs. Athletics (win): seven innings, three hits, no earned runs, seven strikeouts, two walks.

Whatever was ailing Eovaldi to start the season seems to have corrected itself. He missed all six of his pitches on Monday, with an emphasis on his splitter (32) and his cutter (15). He induced 41 swings, 12 called strikes and 13 whiffs, with the spiller and sinker combining for 10 of the 13 whiffs. While his splitter led to four strikeouts, he punched out two hitters with his curveball and one with his four-seam fastball, which he threw just eight times.

While Jake Burger handled the offense, Nathan Eovaldi gave the bullpen a break. 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K. 84 pitches, 53 strikes. Second straight quality start. Evo back to being Evo. pic.twitter.com/Y5PtOIZh3S
— Matthew Postins (@PostinsPostcard) April 14, 2026

Thanks to first baseman Jake Burger’s three-run home run in the top of the first, Eovaldi pitched with the lead the entire game, allowing him to be on the attack.

“I was just trying to use [the Athletics’] aggressiveness against them,” Eovaldi said. “We were able to put some runs up in the first inning and I just tried to keep that pressure on them. I felt like the fastball command was really good. I used the cutter and the sinker early.”

If Texas sticks to the current rotation, Eovaldi would start on Saturday against the Mariners, preceded by Jacob deGrom and followed by Tuesday’s starter, MacKenzie Gore.

Add us as a preferred source on Google