Nathan Eovaldi Getting Closer to Returning to Texas Rangers from Injury

If Nathan Eovaldi has been bored on the Texas Rangers’ recent road trip, it hasn’t showed.

On Saturday, the injured right-hander threw the equivalent of three innings of live batting practice before Texas’ game with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the steel city.

MLB.com estimated that he threw more than 50 pitches in the outing, his latest as he tries to return from right posterior elbow inflammation

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The interesting part of the report is that Eovaldi could be activated in the coming week. That would indicate that the Rangers are considering bypassing a rehab start or two for the 35-year-old, even though he went on the IL on May 29.

It wouldn’t be the first time that happened, either.

Eovaldi missed a month in 2023 due to a right forearm strain. Given the timing — he was activated on Sept. 5, and the Rangers were in a postseason race — there wasn’t enough runway for a proper rehab assignment and Eovaldi ramped up in the Majors.

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Last year he was moved to the IL on May 3 with a right groin strain and was activated on May 28. Again, the Rangers opted not to send him to the minors for a rehab assignment.

Eovaldi hasn’t gone to the minor leagues for a rehab assignment since 2022 when he was with the Boston Red Sox.

Before the injury, he was 4-3 with a 1.56 ERA in 12 starts with 73 strikeouts and 10 walks in 69.1 innings.

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He re-signed with the Rangers on a three-year, $75 million deal in the offseason and he’s been worth every penny as Texas boasts one of the best-performing rotations in baseball.

Eovaldi wasn’t the only injured Rangers starter working on Saturday, either.

Right-hander Jon Gray — who has been on the 60-day IL since the start of the season after he suffered a right forearm fracture in a spring training game when he was hit by a comebacker. In the past few weeks, he’s been throwing off flat ground.

But on Saturday, per MLB.com, he threw what was called a “glorified bullpen,” as he threw 35 pitchers against ghost hitters.

Gray remains on course to being able to return to the rotation in August, which was the original timeline.

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