Texas Ties Help Bring Nathan Eovaldi To Rangers

Nathan Eovaldi grew up in southeast Texas and went to the same high school as a Rangers legend.

Signing with the Texas Rangers and getting a little closer to home in the process has been a bit of a theme the past two offseasons.

Newly-signed pitcher Nathan Eovaldi is the latest to use that as incentive to sign with the Rangers.

“I mean, it's everything,” Eovaldi said. “I think one of the biggest things is family.”

Eovaldi will naturally make his home in the Metroplex. But his family can more easily see him on a regular basis as they live about four hours south of Dallas-Fort Worth.

Plus, he carries a unique tie with Rangers legend Nolan Ryan. Eovaldi and Ryan went to the same high school in Alvin.

Ryan, of course, is baseball royalty, a Rangers and National Baseball Hall of Famer who played for both the Texas franchises. After leaving the Houston Astros, Ryan played for the Rangers from 1989-94 and helped put the franchise on the national map.

Ryan passed the 5,000-strikeout mark, threw the final two of his seven no-hitters and won his 300th game with the Rangers before being inducted into Cooperstown on the first ballot in 1999. He also served as team president during the franchise’s back-to-back World Series runs in 2010 and 2011.

But, back in the 1960s, Ryan was a lanky young pitcher who signed with the New York Mets out of high school after being discovered by scout Red Murff.

Eovaldi had a different high school experience at Alvin. He had to have Tommy John surgery during his junior year of high school, which probably hurt his draft stock.

Even though he was an honorable-mention All-State player and was committed to Texas A&M, he was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 11th round of the 2008 MLB Draft and he signed for a $250,000 bonus.

Eovaldi eventually reached the Majors in 2011 with the Dodgers, but was traded the next season to the Miami Marlins. He's now playing for his sixth different team.

Jon Gray, signed as a free agent last offseason, also used his four-year contract with the Rangers last offseason to get a little closer to home. Gray grew up in Shawnee, Okla, which is little more than a three-hour drive from Arlington.

Former Dodgers starter Andrew Heaney signed with the Rangers last month and, like Gray, he’s an Oklahoma native. He was born in Oklahoma City and played his high school ball in Warr Acres, Okla., which is also about three hours away.

Eovaldi is used to seeing his family at Astros and Rangers games, and he’ll still be able to do so.

He’ll just get to see them about 95 times next season.

“I know everybody always loved it when we'd go down there and play the Astros because there's an opportunity for them to come out and watch me play,” Eovaldi said. “Even if I wasn't playing, they would come out there to just watch the game and support us, so it's going to be a lot better I think this year having them so close.”

Eovaldi turns 33 next month and went 6-3 with a 3.87 ERA in 20 starts for the Boston Red Sox in 2022. He was undefeated on the road (4-0) and his 2.64 road ERA was ninth-best in the American League.

He has a career record of 67-68 with a 4.16 ERA with the Dodgers (2011-12), Miami (2012-14), New York Yankees (2015-16), Tampa Bay Rays (2018) and Boston (2018-22).

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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