Nathan Eovaldi Scratched With Left Side Tightness Hours Before Rangers Face Diamondbacks

The Texas Rangers just pulled the plug on Nathan Eovaldi's start Monday night against Arizona. About three hours before first pitch in their series opener, the team announced the 36-year-old right-hander was dealing with left side tightness and wouldn't take the mound. Jakob Junis, a right-handed reliever, will get the emergency start instead.

Eovaldi Was Rolling Into This One

This is rough timing because Eovaldi was genuinely pitching well going into Monday. The guy came off consecutive wins against the Yankees in his last two starts, and the numbers were clean. He limited New York to just one run while striking out 15 batters over 15 innings of work. Last Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, he threw eight innings and gave up only one run. Then on April 29 at home, he went seven scoreless innings against them. That's the kind of form you want your veteran starter carrying into a divisional matchup.

What This Means for Texas

When your ace is sitting out, you're asking a reliever to eat innings he's not built for. Junis stepping into a start role is a band aid on what could develop into a bigger problem if Eovaldi's side issue doesn't clear up fast. The Rangers are counting on their rotation to carry them through the season, and losing Eovaldi even for one start puts pressure on everybody else.

The Rangers will need to monitor Eovaldi closely over the next few days and make sure this is just precautionary and not something that lingers. For now, all eyes are on how Junis handles the unexpected workload against a Diamondbacks team sitting at 19-20 on the season.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.