Rangers lose two-time All-Star starting pitcher to injury

The Rangers announced that right-hander Nathan Eovaldi has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a right groin strain. Fellow righty Yerry Rodríguez was recalled in a corresponding move.

Eovaldi, 34, started Thursday’s game but departed the game with groin tightness. He seemed unconcerned with the issue after the game, per Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today, but the club scheduled him for an MRI. It seems that a strain was found, but the severity isn’t publicly known.

Regardless of how long Eovaldi is out, his absence will be a challenge for a Rangers club with plenty of rotation injuries. The club has long known that Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle would be out for significant portions of this year, as each underwent Tommy John surgery last year. Max Scherzer then required back surgery in the winter, which meant he was going to start the season on the IL as well. Since the season has started, Cody Bradford has landed on the shelf due to a stress fracture in his rib and now Eovaldi is following that group to the IL.

Subtracting Eovaldi will naturally hurt, as he has a 2.61 earned run average on the year. His absence will be doubly challenging for the club at this time since they are currently in a stretch of playing 10 games in nine days, thanks to a scheduled doubleheader in Oakland this coming Wednesday.

For now, they can have Michael Lorenzen, Dane Dunning, Jon Gray and Andrew Heaney start the next four contests. But they will need another starter to take Eovaldi’s spot in the rotation by Tuesday and then someone else for the twin bill the day after.

José Ureña is on the big league roster and has been throwing multi-inning stints out of the bullpen. He could be an option for a start or working as a bulk pitcher as part of a bullpen game. Jack Leiter and Owen White are each on the 40-man roster, but neither had good results in their previous call-ups this year. Scherzer had begun a rehab assignment but has been slowed by some thumb soreness and his timeline is unclear at the moment. Johnny Cueto recently signed a minor league deal but hasn’t yet appeared in official game action. Adrian Sampson and Shaun Anderson are stretched out at Triple-A but neither is on the 40-man roster at the moment.