Eovaldi missing Classic, but making most of extra camp time

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Nathan Eovaldi lists off Rangers’ pitching prospects with ease, noting each one that has caught his eye during his first week in Arizona for Spring Training.

Especially in the early days of camp, Eovaldi has enjoyed getting to interact and help out with the young group of pitching prospects the Rangers have, including Jack Leiter, Kumar Rocker, Owen White, Ricky Vanasco and Cole Winn.

“A lot of guys have different types of ways they want to pitch and I tell them like, what I do, and the reasons I do it, " Eovaldi explained. “Then they give it a try and they end up liking it. I’m just trying to share my two cents and they either take it or not.”

Eovaldi specifically pointed to Marc Church, the club’s No. 28-ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline, who blew Eovaldi away with his fastball command and velocity in his bullpens this week.

“The fact that Nate’s been here a week and already knows and has spent time with Marc Church speaks volumes of who Nate Eovaldi is,” general manager Chris Young said.

“[I just want to] make the most of it,” Eovaldi said of building chemistry in camp. “When everybody else reports in five or six days, it's gonna be fun to have everybody in here. One of my other reasons for coming over here was because of the young talent that we have and getting to see some of these younger arms go out there and throw their sides. I think that's part of the experience that we're able to bring over here and help these guys.”

Eovaldi now gets two extra weeks in camp to build relationships with young pitchers and veterans alike after the right-hander pulled out of the World Baseball Classic, where he was expected to pitch for Team USA.

When the World Baseball Classic rosters were announced last week, the Rangers landed three players on various rosters: Martín Pérez for Venezuela, Jose Leclerc for the Dominican Republic and pitching prospect Mitch Bratt for Canada.

Eovaldi was announced to be participating in the World Baseball Classic weeks before signing a two-year, $34 million contract with the Rangers, but was not included on the roster announcements due to injury risk.

In 2022, Eovaldi spent two stints on the injured list with shoulder and back inflammation, limiting him to 20 starts. He went 6-3 with a 3.87 ERA. Eovaldi said he feels fully healthy after a long offseason, but the decision was ultimately out of his hands.

“I mean, obviously, I was disappointed with everything, not being able to participate in it,” Eovaldi said. “We worked so hard to get this contract to be here in this situation. And obviously, it's a big deal to be able to represent Team USA, but at the same time, you know, the main goal is to be coming over here and to get to the playoffs and win a World Series."

Eovaldi said he prepared coming into camp as if he were building up for the World Baseball Classic and he was fully ready for a gradual buildup between working with the Team USA staff and Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux. Because of that, he’s now slightly ahead of a typical Spring Training schedule.

Despite the disappointment of not being able to play in the World Baseball Classic, Eovaldi does find a silver lining in being fully immersed in his first camp with the Rangers and developing chemistry with a new pitching staff.

“We welcome having a player of Nate's character in our camp,” Young said. “Certainly, we are going to benefit from having him here. And just the familiarization, acclimation with the organization, his teammates, he's such a leader and [we're] thrilled he's here. But I can't publish just half of that statement. The second half is that we always want to support our players and certainly support Team USA, and we're disappointed that he can't compete and do something he was looking forward to doing.”