For the first time since they both signed with the Texas Rangers in 2023, starting pitchers Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom are both entering a season fully healthy.

With that came a difficult decision of who to start on Opening Day for first-year manager Skip Schumaker.

On Sunday afternoon, Schumaker revealed his conclusion on that decision as well as plans for his team’s home opener.

Schumaker announced that Nathan Eovaldi will be the Rangers' Opening Day starter for the third consecutive season.

Despite this being his sixth career Opening Day start, Eovaldi says the moment never gets less special.

“I think they’re all very special, whether it’s the first or this one,” Eovaldi said while meeting with the media after the announcement.

“I take a lot of honor and pride in going out there and being able to represent the Rangers on Opening Day and being able to get that first start. I want to be able to start the season and finish strong,” Eovaldi finished.

For Schumaker, there were multiple clear reasons why he tabbed Eovaldi as the guy to take the mound in game one.

“Eovaldi is obviously coming off the injury last year, but where he’s at right now, the leadership he provides and the standards that he’s set,” Schumaker said when explaining his reason for the decision.

With the Rangers being on the road for the first week of the season, the schedule could line up for deGrom to get the start in the team’s home opener on April 3rd.

“I think [the home opener start] is important as well,” Schumaker said. “I think it just worked out really well as far as the off days and the number of games we start out with on the road, so we can get Evo in one day and Jacob potentially on the other opener”.

Although it may have been tough to decide who to give the ball to on Opening Day, Schumaker admits that allowing both of them to get a start on Opening Day and the home opener wasn’t something he had to think too much about.

“They both deserve one of those, and so this was a no-brainer for me to give them that opportunity,” Schumaker finished.

Both at the beginning of the season and throughout, the Rangers will certainly have one of, if not the best, rotations in all of baseball.

With Eovaldi and deGrom at the top, followed by MacKenzie Gore, Jack Leiter, and whoever wins the fifth starter spot, Texas will certainly have the arms to try and return to the postseason for the first time since winning it all in 2023.

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