If the struggle to remain at .500 didn’t say it, or the 26-40 road record didn’t say it, or the offense worse than the White Sox, Rockies, and Pirates didn’t say it, then then news that Nathan Eovaldi is likely gone for the season screamed it loud and clear.
The Rangers are not playing in October. Sorry, THE RANGERS ARE NOT PLAYING IN OCTOBER.
This is a blow for a number of reasons, first and foremost because Nathan Eovaldi was having a historically wonderful season, with an ERA about fifty points lower than the next guy’s (1.76 to Tarik Skubal’s 2.28).
You hate to see that come to an end. Especially because it ends any serious Cy Young award discussions. Not to say he was a shoo in. He should have been, but the baseball who vote on such a thing are often wrong, and they would have worked themselves into a lather over Detroit’s Skubal or Boston’s Garrett Crochet, with his 2.38 ERA. And to be fair to both pitchers, they are having great seasons as well. Eovaldi, had he been able to continue, would have ended up with about thirty fewer innings pitched (today he is at 133, Crochet and Skubal are at 166) because of earlier injuries, and for some reason the writers nick a pitcher for not throwing as many innings, as if he would somehow give up fifty earned runs if he pitched those extra thirty innings.
Also, Skubal and Crochet are on teams going to the playoffs, and the Rangers are not. That usually carries weight.
But, that’s all bar stool arguing now. The shame is, Eovaldi won’t be taking the mound anymore this year. And it was a joy to watch his mastery of baseball this year.
The best ERA by a Rangers pitcher since the franchise moved to Arlington in 1972 was actually recorded in 1972. By Mike Paul, who hung up an ERA of 2.17. To qualify, a pitcher has to have thrown at least one inning for every game his team has played, meaning Eovaldi will end up just twenty-nine innings shy. His 1.76 ERA won’t go down as the best in Rangers’ history. But his year certainly will.
Thanks, Nathan, for 2025. And godspeed.
*****
