ARLINGTON — The Rangers have entered wait-and-see mode with the leader of their rotation.
Right-handed pitcher Nathan Eovaldi remains day-to-day with left side tightness, manager Skip Schumaker said before Tuesday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Globe Life Field, and it’s still to be determined if the 36-year-old will make his next scheduled start or if he’ll need additional time to recover. Eovaldi was scratched from Monday’s series opener after he reported discomfort in his side earlier that day.
“He could come in tonight after getting all his work done and feel really good leaving the ballpark,” Schumaker said, “and then tomorrow we have a different conversation. We really don’t know.”
His next scheduled turn in the rotation is Sunday against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Schumaker declined to hypothesize whether Eovaldi will be able to make that start or whether he’ll need time on the injured list given the finicky nature of side injuries.
On Tuesday, the Rangers did add right-handed pitcher David Davalillo to the taxi squad. Davalillo, the organization’s seventh-best prospect per The Dallas Morning News’ rankings, has a 3.86 ERA at Double-A Frisco this season and is already on the 40-man roster.
Eovaldi has taken four separate trips to the injured list in three-plus seasons with the Rangers but hasn’t missed time due to a side or oblique injury as a big leaguer.
“These things, you’ve got to be careful with them, and make sure you don’t try something right away and make it worse,” Schumaker said. “I’ve had them as a hitter. You think you’re okay and then you miss a significant amount of time. I wish I could give you a ‘we’re really optimistic’ or ‘there’s no chance,’ it’s how he feels each day, and depending on what we end up doing with that type of injury, I think either can help it move forward quickly or we have to move back.”