Texas Rangers avoid injury calamity with Nathan Eovaldi, Brandon Nimmo
Brandon Nimmo landed awkwardly on first base Tuesday night and left the game, but he was back in the Texas Rangers' lineup Wednesday (Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images). Outfielder Brandon Nimmo was back in the Texas Rangers’ lineup Wednesday, and right-hander Nathan Eovaldi said he could start as soon as Sunday. ARLINGTON — After watching Brandon Nimmo hobble in real time and again on video, Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker didn’t expect to have Nimmo available for the series finale against Arizona.
But there he was, back in the starting lineup. The Rangers might have Nathan Eovaldi available this weekend for the series finale at Houston. As of Wednesday afternoon, it appeared that the Rangers had avoided losing two key players to the injured list as they attempt to jump-start their season during a long stretch of games against teams with losing records.
“Hopefully another bullet dodged with two big-time players for us,” Schumaker said. “So far, so good. ” Eovaldi was coming off of consecutive wins against the Yankees but had to be scratched from his start Monday night after he complained of soreness in his left side.
An MRI exam showed no structural damage, and he threw a bullpen session Wednesday at Globe Life Field. He said the soreness was similar to what he experienced in the past during spring training, and a few days off was the cure. The discomfort first surfaced Sunday as he played catch.
“It was very minor, but you just want to make sure that we didn’t let it turn into something big,” Eovaldi said. “I had experience with something like that before. And you try to be smart, especially with where we are now.