Veteran right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who had offseason surgery for a sports hernia after posting a career-best 1.73 ERA in 22 starts, will be the Opening Day starter for the Texas Rangers for the third consecutive season, manager Skip Schumaker said Sunday.
Texas opens the season on the road against the Philadelphia Phillies on March 26.
Eovaldi who went 11-3 while pitching 130 innings last season, fell short of the innings needed to qualify as the MLB ERA leader, as pitchers need to average one inning per team game to qualify. Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes led the majors at 1.97, with the Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal (2.21) atop the American League.
The 36-year-old Eovaldi, one of baseball's best pitchers all season, was shut down in late August with a rotator cuff strain and had the sports hernia procedure after the season.
He has won at least 11 games per season since joining the Rangers in 2023, and he has a 102-84 career record and 3.84 ERA over 14 big league seasons with six teams, winning World Series championships with Boston in 2018 and Texas in 2023.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
