Texas Rangers fans didn’t have to wait long to see one of their superstar pitchers on the mound this Spring Training.

In Friday afternoon’s Cactus League opener against the Kansas City Royals, the Rangers sent out an arm who could potentially be their Opening Day starter.

Nathan Eovaldi took the mound in the Rangers' first game of the spring as he began to build himself up for his fourth season in a Texas uniform.

First-year Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said the plan was for Eovaldi to go “about 30 pitches or two innings,” and that nearly ended up happening on the dot.

Eovaldi threw 29 pitches and finished the two innings, giving up three runs, all on a home run, in a windy Surprise Staduim in Surprise, Arizona.

Notably, Eovaldi threw a lot of splitters, something that he seems to clearly being using Spring Training to work on.

In addition to the three runs, Eovaldi also struck out three batters and did not issue a single base on balls.

Things went quickly for Eovaldi in the first inning as he set the Royals down 1-2-3, getting Maikel Garcia to ground out back to him, forcing superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr, to ground out, and then striking out Vinnie Pasquantino.

During the second inning, Eovaldi ran into some trouble as Royals catcher Salvador Perez led off the inning with a home run.

Jac Caglianone was the very next hitter, and he ripped a single against Eovaldi. Two batters later, Michael Massey drove one out of the park.

In between Caglianone and Massey, Eovaldi successfully used the ABS challenge system to challenge a call and strikeout Royals outfielder Lane Thomas.

The ABS system will be implemented in MLB regular-season games for the first time this season.

Following Massey's home run, Eovaldi struck out Nick Loftin and got Kevin Newman to fly out to end his day.

Certainly, Spring Training results are never anything to put much stock into, whether good or bad. Eovaldi will have plenty of time to iron out anything he needs before the season starts.

With Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom, the Rangers feel like they have two potential AL Cy Young contenders.

The pair of aces will join new Ranger MacKenzie Gore, Jack Leiter, and whoever winds up being the fifth starter in a rotation that figures to once again be the strength of the time.

Last season, Texas had the best starting rotation in all of MLB. If they can come anywhere close to the same this year, it will go a long way toward helping the team return to the postseason for the first time since winning it all in 2023.

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