MLB WORLD SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS RANGERS

October 31, 2023

Nathan Eovaldi

Chase Field

Texas Rangers

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. I promise there's a serious question coming on the back of this. But first question, Nate Lowe revealed you give him $100 every time he flips a ball to you to cover first base. Was that your idea? Where did that come from?

NATHAN EOVALDI: More so mine. I feel like a lot of times we come over there to cover the bag and he wants to take it himself. I'm already there and I'm, like, flip me the ball. I had to make sure he would do it. (Laughter).

Q. Last year pitching defense was not great for the Rangers. I talked to Brad Miller earlier this year. He said from the very beginning of Spring Training you showed up you're, like, here's a list of things we need to change. Was that on the list? And how do you go about sort of implementing that as part of the culture?

NATHAN EOVALDI: I don't think that necessarily was on the list. That was more Mike Maddux. It's about the little things. You've got to capitalize on all the little things to make sure they don't become big things.

And covering the bases, the little fundamentals, covering bunt plays and making sure you're backing up the bases, doing your part, essentially, prevents other things from happening. You're not backing up a bag and the ball gets overthrown, that runner comes around and it turns into a run. You want to control the little things you want to control.

And I've been thankful enough to where I've been around a lot of really good organizations. And coming here at the beginning, C.Y. made sure, be vocal about what you see if there's any changes that need to be made.

And I was vocal about it. I was trying to help out as much as I could. And some things I think helped and maybe some others didn't.

But we've been really successful this year. And I think we've done a really good job in controlling the little things that we can control on the base paths and the bunt plays and making sure we're over there when we need to be.

Q. You guys have, I think, four or five starting pitchers in your bullpen now. How tough is it to make that adjustment for them? And what have you seen out of that group this postseason in their new roles, I guess?

NATHAN EOVALDI: That's why I always say starting pitching, it wins championships. If they're struggling in the rotation, they move to the bullpen, now they become a long man. They can be efficient. I feel like when your arm's built up -- 70, 80, 90 pitches -- and you go to the bullpen, it's as if you're throwing a bullpen on that day.

And the adjustment is having to get ready to go back-to-back days having one day off getting back into a game. But I feel like that mentality as a starting pitcher, you wait every five days until you're able to get back on the mound. And now being able to take the ball every two or three days, it's exciting as a starting pitcher.

I experienced it in the postseason. I loved it. I had times in my career where I was sent to the bullpen because I was struggling in the rotation. And it helped me out a lot. I get attuned into that attack-mode mentality. You're not trying to go out there and go deep; you're just going after each batter that you face. And I think that's where some of the success comes back to the guys.

Q. Can you speak directly about Jon Gray and how he's been able to do that, especially in this series, and kind of been a wipeout?

NATHAN EOVALDI: Jon has been unbelievable for us. All year, I feel he's flown under the radar. He's had good outings, bad outings. I feel like he hasn't really got the run support this year to really put him out there. But I feel like he's got a rubber arm. The ball jumps out of his hand. Even in the bullpen sessions, in between his starts, he would be letting it eat. He'd be 94, 97 in the bullpen, wipeout stuff with all his pitches.

Seeing him come into the bullpen, it's not a surprise to me how much success he's having.

He has that attack mentality. Again, with those two-plus pitches, his fastball and slider, being able to command those and attack the guys, anytime you're ahead of a hitter, get away with a few more pitches, I feel like. And last night, it was unbelievable what he was able to do for us. He came up big for us when we needed him most and covered three big innings and left them all out there.

Q. When you guys started this season, obviously the Rangers have put together what they thought was a great rotation to get them where you're going. It didn't unfold as planned. Took the front office bringing in some reinforcements. What did it say about the journey and the work it takes for the organization as a whole to make a starting rotation work to get you to this point?

NATHAN EOVALDI: It's very tough. I feel like, the teams I've been on, if you've been able to keep your starting rotation healthy, you end up, most of the time, being in the postseason, I feel like. I think we came into this season with seven starters.

I know we picked up two more along the way. And having other guys step up in that role that were our long men out of the bullpen and coming back into the rotation, few guys go down, but you'll have to face a little adversity in the season to have success.

I feel that was one of our main things this year, we had a lot of key players, not just even pitchers, but a lot of guys step up when one of the guys went down and filled in the role nicely.

Q. When you have consecutive starts against the same team -- I think you've had it three times this year -- do you go through and conscious of using different sequence, or do you just play to your strengths or a combination?

NATHAN EOVALDI: I try to play to my strengths. At the same time, I try to learn from my mistakes I had.

So coming in this next start against these guys, I'll be pitching a little differently. But at the same time, just continue to use my strengths and attack their weaknesses.