ARLINGTON — It could be a big week for the last and best reinforcements that the Texas Rangers can add this season.
Rangers third baseman Josh Jung (calf) and right-handed pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (elbow) both took encouraging steps as the regular season’s final month nears. Jung jogged before Monday’s series opener vs. the Athletics at Globe Life Field for the first time since the team’s last homestand, and “if the ramp up is good this week,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said, he could start a minor league rehab assignment “right after that.”
“Today was the first day [I ran] in a while,” Jung said. “Today was a good day — I don’t want to jinx it — but it was a good day.”
Eovaldi threw 50 flat-ground pitches Monday afternoon, used his entire arsenal and “was letting it go” according to Schumaker. He’s been on the injured list since Aug. 10 with right posterior elbow inflammation. It’s still unclear how the Rangers intend to handle the 36-year-old’s rehab from here on out, but according to Schumaker, how his elbow responds this week will have a large impact on his ability to return.
“He’s [at] 50 pitches, flatground, which is encouraging for sure,” Schumaker said. “But what’s that look like in the next week or so? I think that’s determining what [his recovery] actually looks like.”