Nathan Eovaldi might’ve delivered the best pitching performance the Rangers have seen all season last night against the Cincinnati Reds. And it’s just the sixth game of the season.
Eovaldi, who re-signed with Texas this past winter, threw a masterful complete-game shutout in the Rangers’ 1-0 victory over the Reds. He struck out nine, walked none, and allowed just four hits. While that’s all extremely impressive, what makes the outing even more outstanding is that he only needed 99 pitches to do it. He completed a Maddux — a complete game where a pitcher throws 100 pitches or less, named aptly after Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, who threw 13 such games throughout his illustrious career1.
The 35-year-old righty earned the nickname “Big Game Nate” because he always found a way to perform at a high level when the lights were brightest. In the 2018 World Series, when he was with the Boston Red Sox, Eovaldi threw six-plus innings in relief in Game 3, only to take a tough-luck loss in the bottom of the 18th inning when Max Muncy hit a walk-off homer to mercifully end the game. Even though he couldn’t deliver a win, his heroic effort preserved a lot of Red Sox arms and allowed the team to win the World Series a couple of days later. During the Rangers’ postseason run in 2023 that ultimately culminated in the franchise’s first championship, Eovaldi, who’d had a rough end to the regular season, was fantastic; Texas won all six games he started, including the final one that allowed them to finally raise the banner.
While last night wasn’t as massive of a moment, it was still an important one. Because of the pitching situation that the Rangers have found themselves in to begin the season, the bullpen has been utilized more than the team probably would’ve wanted. A short outing by Tyler Mahle on Saturday, which resulted in the ‘pen having to throw 7 1/3 innings (a feat they pulled off tremendously, by the way), and a rough performance by Kumar Rocker on Monday had the relievers stretched thin. As such, they needed a break, big time. Eovaldi gave them just that with his nine-inning masterclass against the Reds.
Another important stipulation to the performance: the Rangers are struggling on the offensive side of the ball right now. As the 1-0 score suggests, Texas desperately needed Eovaldi to shove in order to pull off the win. The lone run came in the top of the first when Wyatt Langford, who hit every ball hard last night, clubbed a solo homer over the left-field fence. For the rest of the game, however, the bats fell silent.
So, it goes without saying that if Eovaldi doesn’t do what he did yesterday evening at Great American Ballpark, the Rangers are 3-3 instead of 4-2. That might seem like a trivial difference in the short term, but in a league where every win and loss is going to matter down the stretch of the season, stealing a game like Texas did last night could prove to be absolutely massive.
From the very beginning of the start, I could tell Eovaldi was locked in, and what he was about to do could be special.
After Langford spotted him a run in the top of the first, Big Game Nate needed just 12 pitches to retire TJ Friedl, Matt McLain, and the ever-dangerous Elly De La Cruz in order in the Reds’ half of the first. That set the tone, as it wouldn’t be until the bottom of the fifth that Eovaldi let a hitter reach base when Gavin Lux singled to right. He subsequently got out of the frame without any damage after coaxing a double-play ball to end the inning.
With his offense continuing to give him zero help, Eovaldi continued to wipe the floor with Cincinnati hitters. In the bottom of the sixth, Jake Fraley looked silly as he struck out on a wicked Eovaldi splitter.
That same inning, Eovaldi struck out Friedl on three pitches in what was an excellent example of exquisite pitch sequencing and tunneling.
Some cracks began to show in the seventh, when McLain led off the inning with a single and De La Cruz hit a sharp ground ball straight at Marcus Semien. But Eovaldi wasn’t phased. He forced Lux to ground out and jammed Jeimer Candelario with an inside splitter to get out unscathed. With his pitch count at a manageable number through seven, the complete game, and perhaps even a shutout, were on the horizon. A shutout was probably going to be necessary, given the way the Rangers were struggling at the plate.
In the eighth, Eovaldi was at his best. He was efficient, and his pitches were crisp. Santiago Espinal led off with a weak ground ball to Corey Seager. Fraley followed that up with an even weaker pop fly to Semien. Blake Dunn concluded the penultimate frame with another weak grounder to short. Eovaldi was through eight scoreless innings, and he'd only thrown 87 pitches thus far. Even though it was just his second start of the season, he still had plenty of gas left in the tank.
Cincinnati, determined not to be the victim of one of the best pitching performances of the season thus far, tested Eovaldi in the ninth. Jacob Hurtubise (I’ve got to admit, I’d never heard of this guy before) singled to start the inning, putting the tying run on base and the winning run at the dish. It was at this moment that a dangerous thought entered my mind: there’s a chance that Texas loses this game and wastes this wonderful outing. I quickly dismissed the negativity and kept watching.
Friedl then attempted to bunt Hurtubise over to second, but catcher Kyle Higashioka alertly scooped it up and threw a one-hopper to second that Seager handled to get the lead runner out. It was an astute play that kept the tying run from getting into scoring position, and perhaps most importantly, it was the first out. Three pitches later, McLain laced a line drive to center field, which caused my throat to enter my stomach for a split second. Luckily, Leody Taveras was positioned perfectly and was able to make the catch for the second out.
That brought De La Cruz to the plate. If this wasn’t a mid-week game in a half-empty stadium on the first day of April and instead a late-season tilt for a postseason spot, this matchup could’ve been one that they wrote about in the history books.
On the mound, you have a veteran pitcher who’d completely evolved his game over the past several years. At one point in his career, Eovaldi was a fire-balling righty who threw fastballs at 100 MPH and at times struggled to find the zone. Now, he was an old-school hoss2, who couldn’t overpower hitters with his fastball anymore but utilized all five of his pitches well enough to still be mighty effective. In fact, he may be the best he’s ever been, at least if you ask me.
In the batter's box stands one of the up-and-coming talents of this generation of baseball. When De La Cruz made his big league debut in 2023, he revitalized a Reds team that was middling and almost helped deliver them their first postseason appearance since 2013. He's an electric player who I desperately want to see in person someday. Last night, his bat represented the ultimate spoiler.
The first pitch, a 91 MPH cutter, was way inside and brushed De La Cruz off the plate. Perhaps that set up his next pitch, a splitter that might’ve grazed the dirt but was still enticing enough to De La Cruz that he decided to swing at it. He missed. Eovaldi went back to the splitter, the pitch he threw the most yesterday, and got the young shortstop to foul it off. With the complete-game shutout just a strike away, Eovaldi decided to try the splitter out one last time. De La Cruz spat on it as it landed harmlessly in the dirt.
Two balls, two strikes.
The 99th and final pitch of the night was a beautiful cutter that Eovaldi located perfectly. It rode up on the hands of De La Cruz, and he hit a harmless ground ball to Jake Burger at first base, who tossed it to Eovaldi, who was covering the bag.
That was it. The game was over. Eovaldi's complete-game shutout had delivered the Rangers their fourth win of the season. It was wonderful. It was amazing. It was some of the best pitching I’d ever seen in my life.
Don’t believe me? Just watch it for yourself.
Unbelievably, pitch counts only began being tracked in 1988. Maddux began his career in 1986, so this number could be higher.
There are a lot of old-school hosses (if that’s not a word, I declare it one now) that have graced this great game throughout its historic past, but my personal favorite is Charles Radbourn, who was nicknamed “Old Hoss” and threw 4,527 1/3 innings over his 11-year career that spanned from 1881 to 1891.