Up Against It! Rangers Nathan Eovaldi Rushed By Reduced Pitch Clock In Spring Appearance

Nathan Eovaldi’s first spring training start for the Texas Rangers proved a bit adventurous in the first inning before he tossed two scoreless innings in their 5-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals in Surprise, Ariz.

So what happened? Well, Eovaldi had to adjust to the pitch clock once again.

“In the offseason, you have plenty of time to throw, and you're focusing on all your mechanics and things like that,” he said. “Then you go out there, and you compete, but you don't want to fall behind every hitter, and I felt like I was behind in the majority of those at-bats.”

MLB reduced the pitch clock from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base while leaving it at 15 seconds with no runners on this offseason.

After allowing a leadoff single in the first, Eovaldi admitted he felt “rushed.”

“I think it's just getting used to it again,” he said.

Physically, Eovaldi said, he felt fine. He was told before the game he would pitch either two innings or 35 pitches.