ARLINGTON, Texas — Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi is likely done for the season because of a rotator cuff strain, another huge blow to the Texas Rangers and their hopes of making a late push for a playoff spot.
Eovaldi, who is 11-3 with a career-best 1.73 ERA in 22 starts but just short of the innings needed to qualify as the MLB leader, was among the favorites for the American League Cy Young Award.
He said Tuesday that he had an MRI after shutting down a bullpen session between starts because of continued soreness. The 35-year-old pitcher said he was more sore than normal but was surprised by those results since he hasn’t had any shoulder issues in his 14 MLB seasons.
“It just felt like it was getting a little worse, so I shut it down and had the trainers look at it,” Eovaldi said. “Obviously, it’s just frustrating given how great the season’s been going. … I don’t want to rule out the rest of the season, but it’s not looking very great.”
Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young said Eovaldi likely will be put on the 15-day injured list Wednesday. He was supposed to start against the Los Angeles Angels with another opportunity to take over MLB’s qualified ERA leader.
After allowing one run in seven innings against Cleveland Guardians in his last start Friday, Eovaldi was the official ERA leader for one night. That put him at 130 innings in 130 Rangers games, and ahead of All-Star starters Paul Skenes (2.07) and Tarik Skubal (2.28) until the Texas played the following day — pitchers need one inning per team game to qualify.
Entering Tuesday, Eovaldi was tied for third among AL Cy Young favorites with 30-1 odds at ESPN BET.
“Obviously it’s a big blow. He’s been just a tremendous teammate and competitor for us all year long,” Young said. “Hate to see this happen to somebody who’s been so important to the organization. But it seems par for the course with how some of the season has gone. So hate it for Evo, hate it for the team.”
With 29 games remaining going into Tuesday night, the Rangers were 5 1/2 games back of Seattle for the American League’s last wild-card spot. The Mariners and Kansas City both hold tiebreakers over Texas.
The Rangers lost center fielder Evan Carter because of a right wrist fracture when he was hit by a pitch in Kansas City on Thursday. That is the same game that durable second baseman Marcus Semien fouled a pitch off the top of his left foot, sending him to the IL for only the second time in his 13 MLB seasons. First baseman Jake Burger (left wrist sprain) also went on the IL during that road trip.
Semien and Eovaldi could potentially return if the Rangers make the playoffs and go on a deep run since neither are expected to need surgery. Semien’s recovery timeline is four to six weeks, and Eovaldi said he would get another MRI in about four weeks. Just under five weeks remain until the regular-season finale Sept. 28 at Cleveland.
Eovaldi has been one of baseball’s best pitchers all season, and part of the Rangers’ MLB-leading 3.43 ERA as a staff. He was left off the American League All-Star team and hasn’t been among qualified leaders after missing most of June with elbow inflammation, but Texas still gave him a $100,000 All-Star bonus that is in his contract.
This is Eovaldi’s third consecutive season with at least 11 wins since joining his home state team, and last December he signed a new $75 million, three-year contract through 2027. The 35-year-old Eovaldi and Hall of Fame strikeout king Nolan Ryan are the only big league players from Alvin, Texas.
Eovaldi has a 102-84 career record and 3.84 ERA over 14 big league seasons with six teams and has won World Series championships with Boston in 2018 and Texas in 2023. He made his MLB debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2011-12) and later pitched for Miami (2012-14), the New York Yankees (2015-16), Tampa Bay (2018) and Boston (2018-22).
“I take a lot of pride in being able to go every five days,” Eovaldi said. “To have the outcome that we have now, it’s very tough for me. And you always feel like there’s some way to be able to prevent an injury from happening. And, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.