The Texas Rangers' right-handed pitcher Nathan Eovaldi's Cy Young Award contention appears to have ended prematurely.

Chris Young, the team's President of Baseball Operations, revealed today that 35-year-old righty Nathan Eovaldi has suffered a right shoulder capsule strain, making it improbable for him to pitch again this season. His most recent start was on August 22 versus the Guardians, pitching 7 innings at the Rangers' home and conceding just 1 run for the win. In the following days, he experienced persistent shoulder soreness, leading him to cancel bullpen sessions and undergo an MRI exam.

"This is undoubtedly a major blow," Young said. "He has been an outstanding teammate and competitor all year. It’s heartbreaking to see such a vital player for the team sidelined by injury — but it also seems to fit the unfortunate pattern of our season."

When healthy this season, Eovaldi has been one of the league’s elite pitchers, starting 22 games with an 11-3 record and an impressive 1.73 ERA, striking out 129 batters over 130 innings. His ERA ranks first among pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched league-wide, and his 21.8% strikeout-to-walk differential ties him with teammate Jacob deGrom for seventh best in the league.

Although he missed several weeks in June due to right elbow inflammation, he made a strong comeback in July and August, allowing only 10 earned runs in his last nine starts. Since July, the Rangers have won every one of his nine starts, with Eovaldi personally going 7-0, posting a 1.56 ERA, a 0.83 WHIP, and tallying 54 strikeouts against just 9 walks during that stretch.

"I’ve always taken pride in pitching every fifth day," Eovaldi admitted, "so not being able to continue and facing this outcome is very upsetting. You always feel like the injury might have been preventable, but unfortunately, I couldn’t avoid it."

This is a heavy loss for the Rangers organization and a huge disappointment for Eovaldi personally—he was on track to maintain historic-level stats and compete against top pitchers like Tarik Skubal in the AL Cy Young race. After his last start, he had reached the required innings to qualify and briefly led the majors in ERA, but to remain eligible he would have needed to pitch the full season.

"When you have a season like this, you can feel the unique energy in the clubhouse and on the field, with everyone eagerly anticipating your every start," Eovaldi said. "I’m not just fighting for myself but for the team. Having such strong support from teammates and then suddenly having it all stop is really hard to accept."

This is undoubtedly a further setback for the Rangers, who currently hold a 66-67 record and trail the AL Wild Card fifth place by 5.5 games. Eovaldi joins the team’s recent wave of injuries: second baseman Marcus Semien (left foot fracture), first baseman Jake Burger (left wrist sprain), and outfielder Evan Carter (right wrist fracture) have all been sidelined in the past week. Like Eovaldi, Semien and Carter are unlikely to return this season.

Outfielder Sam Haggerty (left ankle inflammation) and relief pitchers Jon Gray (right shoulder nerve irritation) and Cole Winn (right arm fatigue) have also been placed on the injured list within the last ten days.

"No one is going to feel sorry for us," Young emphasized, "but we will still take the field today with a winning mindset. That’s my only demand... (but) I have never experienced such a concentrated injury outbreak. To lose Gray, Winn, Haggerty, Burger, Carter, Semien, and now Eovaldi all within just over ten days is unprecedented."