Stock Up: Nathan Eovaldi
A Boston Red Sox loss is turning into a Texas Rangers’ gain.
Boston let right-hander Nathan Eovaldi hit free agency following the 2022 season and the Rangers swooped in and signed him over the winter and so far, the returns have been good. The best of Eovaldi showed in a 6-1 Texas win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.
Eovaldi gave up one run on six hits, striking out five and walking one on just 104 pitches. What was even more impressive than his line was it was done on a complete-game effort, something that’s rarely done anymore in the majors with analytics taking over the game and managers wanting to match up late in games. A five-run lead gives a manager a little more room for error in terms of pulling a pitcher and Eovaldi took full advantage of the run support he got from his teammates.
Nasty Nate is a horse. #StraightUpTX pic.twitter.com/GkP4j4hbPV
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) May 24, 2023
In beating former Red Sox teammate Rich Hill, Eovaldi improved to 6-2 with a 2.60 ERA and 66 strikeouts in just under 70 innings pitched. Texas owns the third-best record in the American League this season, and is two games up on the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West, all while Jacob deGrom, a former Mets ace, is injured. It’s time people started paying attention to the Rangers in 2023.