ARLINGTON — Maybe that All-Star Game snub did bother him a little, after all, though Nathan Eovaldi isn’t one to ever look back.
Ever forward.
So, yes, he’s got a 1.50 ERA for the season, including a 0.38 ERA for 23 innings in July. But the All-Star Game was ages ago in his mind. Like two weeks. Now, it’s about the drive for the post-season. No, he wasn’t worried about not being in Atlanta two weeks ago; he was focused on beating Atlanta Friday.
“Every one down the road matters now,” Eovaldi said after five scoreless innings against Atlanta in an 8-3 win Friday, making him 4-0 for the month. “You know how we started out. We know we weren’t playing our best best baseball. We’re playing better now and we’ve got to keep everything rolling.
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“I think the starters feed off of each other, and you go out there and you set the tone.”
In his delayed first start of the second half, Eovaldi, who hadn’t pitched since July 13 due to a cranky back, wasn’t his sharpest. He walked four hitters, equal to about 30% of his season total entering the game. But he eventually found the command of his fastball, which is still the driver in a four- or five-pitch mix, depending on the night. Everything plays off that.
Eovaldi had a pair of baserunners in the first and escaped it. He allowed a leadoff walk in the second, then got a double play. He had two runners on in each of his final two innings and bounced back with consecutive strikeouts both times.
“He just has a knack for making a pitch when he has to,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “That’s what good pitchers do. He had a pretty long layoff. And you’d expect him to maybe be off a little bit. But men on base, he keeps his poise and makes his pitches.”
Now the Rangers have another decision to make in regards to Eovaldi. His next start is scheduled for Wednesday at the Los Angeles Angels. It is important. As Eovaldi said, every game now is important as the Rangers try to rush back into the playoffs. But the Rangers begin a series at Seattle, ahead of them in both the AL West and the wild card race on Thursday. That might be more important.
If they slide him back a day and make use of either Jon Gray or Jacob Latz as a spot starter, they could have both Eovaldi (Thursday) and Jacob deGrom (Saturday or Sunday) face the Mariners.
On Friday, it seemed initially Bochy was leaning against further manipulating the rotation, then changed course in mid-thought.
“We’re going to keep things in order,” he said. “Every game is important game for us. We moved him back to make sure he was OK, that he was rested. And that’s what we’re going to do with these guys is make sure we’re OK. So, these are things we will talk about as we go forward and as far as any tweaking we may do.”
Because after all, they are big games. And he is Big Game Nate.
It will make you do some thinking.
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