SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Rangers have not had one pitcher make two Opening Day starts in a row since Kevin Millwood in 2006-09. Entering this year, only six pitchers in club history (since 1972) have made consecutive Opening Day starts for Texas.
This year, Nathan Eovaldi will become the seventh.
On Sunday, manager Bruce Bochy announced Nathan Eovaldi as the Rangers' Opening Day starter for the second year in a row. Earlier this spring, Bochy announced that ace Jacob deGrom would start the season at the back of the rotation due to a slow-played build up in his first full season post-Tommy John surgery.
That left Eovaldi to get the nod on Opening Day.
Eovaldi said he was told he would probably get the nod shortly after he re-signed with the Rangers this offseason. This will be his fifth career Opening Day start; he was given the honors from 2020-22 in Boston, the very opponent he¡¯ll face in Arlington on March 27.
¡°It's a huge honor to be able to take the ball in the first game of the season, right?¡± Eovaldi said. ¡°It's the first game, and baseball's back. It's what we work for the entire offseason, Spring Training, leading up to it and everything.
"For me, it's about being healthy. I want to be able to go out there and make as many starts as I can and go as deep as I can into the games. I try to treat every game as if it could be my last. There's a lot of meaning behind it. I take a lot of pride in going out there. To have that first one, it means a lot to me. You want to be able to start the season out on a high note. I want to go out there and set the tone.¡±
But even without the team's plan for deGrom, Eovaldi getting the start makes all the sense in the world.
With deGrom injured for much of the past two seasons, Eovaldi has been the de facto ace of the staff, a run that included a handful of heroic performances in the 2023 postseason. He posted a 3.72 ERA in his first two years with Texas, while also going 5-0 with a 2.95 ERA in his six postseason outings in 2023 en route to his second career World Series ring.
On top of that, he¡¯s a leader in every sense of the word.
¡°We talk about intangibles that he brings, he¡¯s just such a great teammate,¡± Bochy said. ¡°He's just so positive in everything he does, and it rubs off on everybody. He¡¯s always smiling when you see him out there. He's got that maniacal focus you love from the pitchers, from pitch to pitch. When he's not playing, he's around, he's talking to the players, even in their bullpens. That's why we worked really hard to get him back here, not just because of the talent, but because of the person. He's the type of player that we want.¡±