ARLINGTON — The good news is that Nathan Eovaldi’s shoulder ailment isn’t expected to hobble the right-hander this winter. The bad news is that an operation remains a possibility nonetheless.
Texas Rangers general manager Ross Fenstermaker said Friday at the team’s end-of-season news conference that Eovaldi will visit a physician in Phoenix next week to be examined for a potential sports hernia.
“We don’t know yet,” Fenstermaker said, “but upon examination we’ll have determination as to whether he needs to have surgery.”
The severity of sports hernias — which are a chronic pain in the groin area — determines if the individual requires surgery. Rangers shortstop Corey Seager underwent two separate sports hernia repair surgeries last year. He underwent the first in January and missed the majority of spring training. He underwent his second in September but arrived in Surprise, Ariz. with a clean bill of health.
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Eovaldi, 35, performed at a career-best level this season before he was shut down because of a rotator cuff strain with a month left to play. He yielded a 1.73 ERA in 130 innings and, according to Fenstermaker, should be cleared for a normal offseason throwing program.
Fenstermaker said that Seager (appendectomy), second baseman Marcus Semien (foot sprain and fracture) and outfielder Wyatt Langford (oblique) each remain on schedule with their respective recoveries and are on track to have “normal offseasons.” Seager and Semien were both shut down with a week left in the regular season once the club’s path to the postseason became close to nonexistent.
First baseman Jake Burger underwent surgery to repair a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist Monday. Fenstermaker said that the operation was successful and that a 6-8 week recovery period is expected before the 29-year-old begins his usual hitting progression.
Outfielder Evan Carter’s fractured right wrist is “close to 100%” healed, according to Fenstermaker, and is expected to have an uninterrupted offseason. He was hit on the wrist by a Daniel Lynch IV fastball in an Aug. 21 game against the Kansas City Royals and has played just one third of the team’s games since the start of last season.
Left-handed pitcher Cody Bradford is expected to be a full participant in spring training after he missed the entire 2025 season after he underwent an internal brace procedure June 25. His exact timeline remains to be determined.
Right-handed pitcher Cole Winn, who ended the season on the injured list with a right rotator cuff strain, is also expected to have a typical offseason.
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