Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi feels good in bullpen 2 days after tightness that scratched start

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi threw a bullpen session Wednesday and said he felt good two days after being scratched from his scheduled start because of left side tightness.

Eovaldi first felt what he described as minor tightness while playing catch Sunday. He still felt it when he woke up the next day, and met with team trainers before he was supposed to pitch in the opener of a series against Arizona.

“We just did some of the testing that they have for it. I felt it on a few things and we just didn’t feel the need to push it,” Eovaldi said Wednesday. "I’ve experienced something like that before, and just try to play it smart."

The Rangers did have right fielder Brandon Nimmo in the lineup for the series finale against the Diamondbacks, a night after he exited a 7-4 win because of a sprained his left ankle.

“Hopefully, another bullet dodged with two big-time players for us,” manager Skip Schumaker said.

When will Eovaldi make his next start?

Eovaldi (4-4, 4.15 ERA) said he was assuming that he would take his next normal turn in the rotation Sunday. He said he needed only a couple of days when experiencing similar stiffness in the past during spring training.

Schumaker said that was good to hear, but planned to have conversations with the two-time All-Star and the medical staff before determining when he would make his next start. The Rangers have a day of Thursday before opening a three-series in Houston.

Eovaldi threw about 25 pitches in his bullpen session, and Schumaker they were at a high intensity and “came out good. ... Let’s see how he recovers.”

Back-to-back gems against Yankees

The 36-year-old pitcher is coming off consecutive wins against New York in his last two starts, limiting the Yankees to one run and striking out 15 over 15 innings in those games. He allowed one run over eight innings at Yankee Stadium last Wednesday and threw seven scoreless innings against them in his last home start on April 29.

Eovaldi was 11-3 with a career-best 1.73 ERA last season when limited to 22 starts because of elbow inflammation and a rotator cuff strain. He didn't pitch after Aug. 22.

Quick recovery for Nimmo

Nimmo came up hobbling in the sixth inning Tuesday and exited the game a few pitches after hitting the edge of first baseman Ildemaro Vargas’ foot as he reached on an infield single. X-rays during the game were negative, and he went through drills Wednesday before Schumaker posted the lineup.

"After the game, coming off the field, I didn’t think there was any way he was going to play today," Schumaker said. “He ran through outfield drills, base running drills and told me that he was gonna play. I didn’t tell him he was gonna play.”

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