Texas Rangers right-handed starters Max Scherzer and Nathan Eovaldi have left the team during its road trip and returned home for evaluations, general manager Chris Young said Sunday.
Scherzer, on the IL since Aug. 2 due to right shoulder fatigue, accompanied the Rangers on their six-game road trip to play the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. He will not be able to return to the active roster when he becomes eligible this week.
“I know he’s frustrated, but (he) just hasn’t turned the corner with his shoulder,” Young told reporters. “Our hope is that maybe we get back and explore some other diagnostic measures and get him back on the mound. But I don’t know what the timetable is going to be.”
Eovaldi, meanwhile, pitched Game 1 of a doubleheader Saturday against the Yankees and threw 81 pitches over just three innings before being removed. The team said he has right side tightness.
It’s possible Eovaldi won’t need an IL stint, but Young said team physician Dr. Keith Meister will evaluate the pitcher before they determine if he can make his scheduled start at the Red Sox.
“The hope is that this is something that can be managed,” Young said. “… It’s something he thinks he can pitch through. We’re just not sure we want to make him do so. He’s so important to us that we’re not sure we want to push him. We may end up pushing him back or skipping a start.”
Eovaldi gave up three runs on six hits and two walks in the Rangers’ 8-0 loss to open that doubleheader. The 34-year-old is 8-6 with a 3.75 ERA over 21 starts this season, with 117 strikeouts and 29 walks in 120 innings.
Scherzer, 40, has made just eight starts this season after his season debut was delayed to June following back surgery and a bout with thumb soreness. Scherzer is 2-4 with a 3.89 ERA this year, striking out 38 batters with eight walks in 39 1/3 frames.