The Rangers lost a meaningless game yesterday. All spring training games are meaningless.

But what mattered isn’t the outcome, it’s the fact that Nathan Eovali’s arm didn’t fall off.

Eovaldi misses two months of 2025, then had surgery in the offseason. Before he went down for the remainder of the season in late August, Eovaldi was working on a brilliant season. 

After his first nineteen starts, Eovaldi’s ERA was 1.38. That’s historically low. It’s only because he gave up eight earned runs over nineteen innings in his last three starts that it “ballooned” to 1.73 and signaled there was something that needed to shut him down. It turned out to be a rotator cuff strain.

But after tossing two innings in yesterday’s game, Eovadi said, “I feel really good. I’m essentially back to where I was before.”

Great news for the Rangers. Bad news for opposing hitters. Because where Eovaldi was before was the most dominating pitcher in Rangers history. In fifteen of those first nineteen starts, he allowed one run, or no runs at all, in fifteen. Even the Rangers anemic offense can compete when their opponent scored one run.

Eovaldi is thirty-six. He’s had arm issues. But he’s also been among the most dominating starting pitchers in baseball throughout his career. 

He was the losing pitcher in yesterday’s meaningless game that meant a considerable amount to the Rangers starting staff. 

*****

TODAY’S GAME:

Texas vs Chicago Cubs, 2:05, 105.3 FM