Rangers Star Nathan Eovaldi Set to Return to Mound in Braves Opener

The Texas Rangers have won five of their first six games coming out of the break and are three games over .500 for the first time since May 17.

Back then, they were 25-22. The Rangers are now 53-50 going into their next series, which starts on Friday against the Atlanta Braves at Globe Life Field.

Winning two out of three from the Braves would solidify the Rangers as buyers at the trade deadline, which is July 31. Texas will have Nathan Eovaldi back to start the series on Friday, as both teams have released their probable pitchers.

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Nathan Eovaldi vs. Joey Wentz

Eovaldi (7-3, 1.58) will start on Friday against Wentz (2-1, 5.71), starting at 7:05 p.m. central.

Eovaldi’s start on Sunday was pushed back after he experienced back tightness during batting practice on Saturday. The hope was that he would pitch during the Athletics series. But Texas opted to give him an extra couple of days of rest.

When he starts on Friday it will be his first start since July 13 against Houston.

He has made 16 starts and has 94 strikeouts and 14 walks in 91 innings. The Rangers recently gave him a $100,000 bonus even though he didn’t make the All-Star team. He missed a month of the season due to an arm injury.

Wentz, typically a reliever, is making his second start of the season. His first start of the season was on Saturday against the New York Yankees. He pitched four innings of shutout baseball. He allowed two hits and one walk while he struck out two.

The Braves are his third MLB team this season. He played earlier for Pittsburgh and Minnesota. He joined Atlanta on July 11 off waivers from the Twins.

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Kumar Rocker vs Grant Holmes

Rocker (4-4., 5.66) will face Holmes (4-9, 3.81) in a game with a first pitch of 6:05 p.m.

Rocker has been quite effective since he returned from a minor league start in June. In his last seven games he is 3-1 with a 4.29 ERA, with 32 strikeouts and 13 walks in 35.2 innings.

He won his last start on Saturday against Detroit. He went 6.1 innings, allowing one hit and no runs. He walked three and struck out five.

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Holmes has posted a quality 3.32 ERA in his last seven games but is 1-4. He has struck out 44 and walked 20 in 38 innings.

His last outing on Sunday against the Yankees resulted in a loss. But he went six innings, allowed seven hits and three earned runs. He also struck out two and walked two.

Jack Leiter vs. Bryce Elder

Leiter (6-6, 4.27) will face Elder (4-56, 5.63) in Sunday’s finale at 1:35 p.m.

Leiter has struggled with his ERA of late, as he has a 5.45 ERA in his last seven games. He’s also 2-4.

But he’s won two of his last three games, including his start on Monday against the Athletics. He went six innings, striking out seven and walking four as he allowed four hits and two runs.

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Elder’s ERA for his last seven games has ballooned to 7.13. He is 2-3 in that span but has won his last two starts.

That included his outing against San Francisco on Tuesday, as he gave up eight hits, three runs and three walks against one strikeout in five innings.

The Rangers hit the road after Sunday’s game, with a three-game series at the Los Angeles Angels that starts on Monday, followed by a four-game series at Seattle that starts on Thursday.

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