ARLINGTON -- Whatever the Rangers were going to get out of Nathan Eovaldi on Friday was likely better than the alternative.
Texas has been operating with a four-man rotation for a few weeks, with both Eovaldi (triceps tightness) and Tyler Mahle (shoulder fatigue) landing on the injured list within two weeks of each other. Jacob Latz and a conglomeration of bullpen arms have admirably eaten innings in the meantime.
But there’s no doubt the Rangers are better with Eovaldi on the mound than without.
In Friday night’s 7-6 extra-innings loss to the Mariners, Eovaldi made his first start since May 27, when he left the game after just two innings of work. In his return, Eovaldi allowed three runs in three innings, allowing five hits and two walks. The Mariners worked him hard for 45 pitches across those three frames.
“Obviously, he wasn't as sharp as he will be for the first time out,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “We got the pitch count to where we wanted it, and it's only going to get better with him.”
The Rangers were down, 3-1, when Eovaldi left the game, but a nails bullpen performance allowed the offense just enough time to chip away at the Mariners’ lead, setting up for extra innings. The Texas offense just couldn’t cash in that last big hit.
Seattle took a one-run lead in the top of the 10th. While Texas tied it again in the bottom half of the frame, the opposing team wasn’t going anywhere, as Miles Mastrobuoni delivered the go-ahead knock in the top of the 12th.
“I felt really good physically,” Eovaldi said. “The bullpen did a great job coming into the game, going deep in there, and covering a lot of the innings for us. It's unfortunate to be that guy who only goes three out there on the mound, and then asks them to cover that many innings. They've been doing such a great job for us this year. I was hoping to try to make it 4-5-6, anything more than three.”
Eovaldi said that he felt like his mechanics were a bit off from the start and he never was able to adjust throughout his short outing. What makes the right-hander so good is that he’s often able to make those in-game adjustments, sometimes even midway through an at-bat.
On Friday, he was just unable to adjust as quickly as he would have liked before reaching his pitch limit.
“Maybe [I was] rotating a little too much,” Eovaldi said. “I felt like my splitter was up in the zone and my curveball was kind of popping out of my hand. I wasn't really executing very well, but I was trying to go out there and get early contact, and try to go in as deep into the game as I could. I don't know really, what my pitch count or anything was out there, so just try to get as quick of outs as possible.”
While he didn’t make note of it as a reason for his mechanical struggles, Eovaldi did not go on a rehab assignment before making his return to the big league club.
He threw multiple bullpens and live batting practice sessions over the last few weeks, with the Rangers choosing to forego a rehab assignment in favor of him returning to help the big league club as quickly as possible -- even if only for three or four innings at first.
Most recently, Eovaldi did throw a little more than 50 pitches and three simulated innings of live batting practice last week in Pittsburgh.
“When I faced our live hitters, I felt really good with my mechanics,” he said. “I’m trying to make some adjustments to improve everything. And I think I did the wrong thing tonight. I need to go back to fixing that. I assume I'll be on the next five-day [schedule] and I’ll be working on that in between starts.”