How a Two-Time World Series Champion Can Continue to be the Rangers Ace Despite 2026 Struggles
Hometown Hero Nathan Eovaldi has been a fan-favorite staple since the moment he stepped onto the mound at Globe Life Field. The Alvin, Texas Native signed a three-year extension on December 12th, 2024, worth $75 million, earning himself the nickname ‘Big Game Nate’. The contract also includes a specific no-trade clause, indicating his desire to play and continue to be a starting pitcher near his home. The two-time World Series Champion: 2018 with the Boston Red Sox and 2023 with the Rangers, has been nothing short of excellent during his tenure with the Rangers, but something is brewing this year in 2026 with him on the mound, and it’ll take a closer look into the next few weeks of the season to see if he can recover from his early season woes.
This season, ‘Evo’ has started two games, both ending with a loss on his record, with a 5-3 loss against Philly and an 8-3 loss against the Orioles. The lack of run support doesn’t help the two-time all-star, but it shouldn’t be much of a factor when you’ve got the accolades and the pay to show how dominant you can be. He also hasn’t pitched deep into a game early on this season, as both of his outings have been cut short in under five full innings. He pitched 4.2 innings against the Phillies, allowing eight hits, five earned runs, including two home runs, but somehow struck out seven batters. It’s almost like Eovaldi puts himself in situations to test himself, as in that game, he gave up a two-spot in the bottom of the first, shut Philly out for three innings, and then lost the command in the bottom of the fourth, where he gave up three more runs. Again, it doesn’t help when your offense isn’t shaping up to the somewhat high expectations they’ve placed on themselves, but Eovaldi has shown he can show up and show out; we just haven’t seen it yet. In the game against the O’s, he was only able to pitch four innings, giving up eight hits, six earned runs, and only five strikeouts. So far, he’s showing a tendency to fall behind in counts and not hitting locations that he usually does. In a early-season series against their division rival Seattle Mariners, it’ll be interesting to see what he can do and how can he adjust his game to allow him to pitch at least half a game, get a command of his location and breaking balls early on, shrink his current ERA of 11.42, which is the highest it’s been in his 14-year career, and get his team their first win at home, as they couldn’t get it done against the Cincinnati Reds, getting swept at home in their three-game series.
The 36-year-old features an elite, diverse arsenal of pitches. The Alvin native mostly relies on his splitter that sits at 87-91 MPH, along with a mid 90s four-seam fastball with a slight two-seam movement, a cutter that’s used to move in on right-handed hitters and move away from lefties, a sinker that’s not used as much can be used as an off-speed fastball, and a 12-6 curveball that’s used to get the batter into groundball situations. Evo’s arsenal has proven time after time to be extremely difficult to get a hit off of, but his early command issues have proven to be Christmas presents to batters, as pitches are ending up in the meat of the strike zone, allowing opposing teams to put pressure on him and get the scoring party started early. With Eovaldi projected to start in the Mariners series, he’s got a potent Seattle lineup facing him, with All-Star and WBC talent Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, Josh Naylor, and Randy Arozarena set to start. If Evo can get ahead and get his stuff working against these generational talents, it may be the start he needs to improve his stats, get his confidence back, and push his team to a much-needed victory to get back into the win column.
