Rangers can't keep relying on Nathan Eovaldi to get this team off a losing streak

Even though the start of the season wasn't strong, the 36-year-old Houstonian native Nathan Eovaldi has continued to showcase why his moniker is "Big Game Nate."

A brief downhill slide hasn't even been able to take that title away from him. Starting 2026 with an 11.42 ERA after two starts, Eovaldi has seen it dip to 3.62 with three straight vintage Eovaldi starts.

Those starts have come when the team has desperately needed them. Problem with that, the more the Rangers rely on him to get the team off a losing streak, the more pressure it will build.

Eovaldi's big game history is Rangers' bread and butter

Before Eovaldi was even the Rangers' most trusted arm, he proved his value on the biggest stage with the Boston Red Sox in the 2018 World Series and earned him several Opening Day nods, more postseason starts and an eventual lucrative contract with Texas.

Then came his history with Texas. His 2023 season was a marvel, recording a 12-5 record with a 3.63 ERA, 132 strikeouts, 47 walks, two complete games, a shutout and a 1.14 WHIP in 141 innings of work. What really earned him the trust of the entire organization was his history-making 5-0 mark in postseason, mixing in several clutch time starts in the ALCS and World Series title-clinching game 5 shutout performance in Arizona.

Throughout his now four seasons with the Rangers, Eovaldi has always had a knack of showing up for the team when needed most. It first happened in 2023, with a complete game shutout over New York Yankees, one day after Jacob deGrom was removed from the game with what would become season-ending Tommy John.

In 2024, he surrendered two or less runs in 14 of his 29 starts. Last season his "Maddux" complete game shutout with less than 100 pitches against the Reds set the Rangers on a four-game winning streak and winners of five of their last seven.

Now this season, Eovaldi's last three starts have been under similar circumstances. Over 22 innings, he's recorded a 0.41 ERA, 0.68 WHIP, .162 BAA, 23 strikeouts and just three walks. The best number of them all, three wins.

Early season cracks show even Eovaldi can get hit around, Rangers need to get better

We are going to try and avoid going too deep into the offensive struggles, as they've already been so widely documented.

The truth of the matter is, this team might have the capability of dropping eight runs on a more consistent basis like they did Sunday afternoon in Houston. But we are seeing a lack of inconsistency and it's why Texas couldn't go home too happy after dropping the series.

Over the weekend, they scored just one run in the first two games and although their Sunday outburst was good, it wasn't enough to propel them any further in the division. They got a burst of energy with Eovaldi's return and knew that there was a solid chance of winning with him on the mound.

Truth of the matter though, Eovaldi has gotten knocked around a bit this season more than we are used to seeing. Three of his nine starts have resulted in five earned runs or more and four of them have been losses which the team has been unable to score more than three runs.

Obviously the offense can't keep playing like this and if it does, it can't keep relying on Eovaldi to go out every fifth day and throw 6-7 shutout innings to keep the team back in the win column.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow