AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS VS ORIOLES

October 10, 2023

Nathan Eovaldi

Globe Life Field

Texas Rangers

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Texas 7, Baltimore 1

Q. Nate, what was that curtain call like for you? Just hearing the fans kind of chant your name in that 7th inning?

NATE EOVALDI: It was definitely very special. I've never had a curtain call or anything like that. Our fans were bringing it all night long. When I walked out at 6:25 tonight, they were chanting and Let's go Rangers. I knew it was going to be a really good night for us. Again, what, 2016, I think, was the last time we had a postseason game here. I mean, they brought the energy tonight and we fed off that for sure. It was definitely a very special moment for me. Very thankful.

Q. Nate, do you officially feel like you did in the first half before you got hurt?

NATE EOVALDI: Yeah, I do. I think it was after the last start that we had here against Seattle, I made a mechanical adjustment, and I just felt so much better right away when I made that adjustment. Then it was going from there. The start that I had in Seattle wasn't -- the results weren't what I wanted, but I felt really good there, and I was able to take that to Tampa and that one to here.

I've been feeling really good with my mechanics. The pitches I'm able to execute, it feels easier for me to execute those pitches. Jonah did a great job calling the game. I felt like the splitter was working right away. When I have that pitch working from the first inning to the last, it makes it easier to go out there and execute my pitches.

The curveball wasn't as efficient as I wanted it to be. But we were able -- once we scored the two runs in the 2nd inning and the other four in the 3rd, it was my job to go out and attack the hitters as much as possible and get outs.

Q. Did that adjustment also help your velocity? That seemed like --

NATE EOVALDI: Yeah.

Q. -- it started in Seattle, you were throwing much harder.

NATE EOVALDI: I do. It allows a cleaner path for me to go for the plate and can throw it harder. I'm not trying to overpower guys by any means. Making sure to locate and mix up my pitches.

Q. Pregame, we talked to Corey and a little bit to Boch about how when they signed here, came here, CY played out a plan for them. When you signed this winter, what was that meeting like with CY and the front office and the plan they laid out for you and how it seems like it's coming to fruition right now?

NATE EOVALDI: Yeah. CY and I had talked before the deGrom and Heaney signing, and I thought it went great. And he just mentioned about how successful we were hitting-wise and asked me about my opinions on the pitching staff. To me, pitching wins championships. You've seen it across the league. Good pitching is able to neutralize a good lineup. I feel like that's what we've been able to do here lately.

With the addition of Scherzer and Montgomery, Stratton, the bullpen's been great. I knew myself coming in, Heaney's been throwing the ball really good as well. Adding those additions, to me, you can never have enough starting pitching. I think Dane's resurgence this year, he's been great all year or even in the past.

But more so this year, I feel like, especially with deGrom going down. And moving forward, again, pitching, you can never have enough good starting pitching. I feel like that's been one of our big reasons for our success.

Q. Nathan, not only did you have the fans chanting Eovaldi, but your teammates were chanting Evo and drenched you pretty good. What does it feel like to have the fans and your teammates chanting your name?

NATE EOVALDI: Definitely very special. These are the moments you play for as an athlete. I love pitching in these big moments. I feel like I'm a big competitor, and that competitive bit definitely comes out. I enjoy having these big games that are the big deciding games on the line. Whether we're down 0-2 or we're up 2-0, you know, definitely very thankful.

From the very beginning of the season, we set a plan. We came in here as one. That was the message from Spring Training. And we're here now. I think everybody was able to buy in and you see how well we've been able to play right now going on to the postseason. We just got to make sure we keep building that momentum.

Q. Nate, can you elaborate a little bit more about the mechanical adjustment and what it was. How exactly did you come to it? Was it your own thing? A pitching coach?

NATE EOVALDI: It's tough to explain what mechanical adjustment it was. I looked back at old video when I was throwing harder and everything was clicking. I thought it was a big mechanical adjustment that stood out, which made it easier for me to go in and switch. It was more so rotating a little more at the top with my knee. I was bringing it up straight before. Now I'm bringing it back more toward my back shoulder. I feel like it gives me more time to gather the power and deliver it toward the plate.

Q. You talk about this team making it to the ALCS the first time since 2011. After all the lean years of the franchise lately, what does it feel like to you guys?

NATE EOVALDI: It feels amazing. That was our plan from Spring Training on. Everybody's playing in Spring Training to win the World Series. But you have to plant that seed for everybody to start to believe in it. I felt like we had the right veteran guys to do that. We had the offense for sure. We added the right starting pitching. Bullpen was, I thought, great last year. They were just overused.

We've got those guys back in here now and there's a lot of success that comes from a losing season. Those guys gained experience from it, and now they're here in big moments. At the beginning of the season, we started out with the Phillies, and were able to do well and I think that builds confidence. We started to surprise ourselves of how well we were doing, the pitching staff, the offense.

I felt like the offense has set the tone all year long. Right now, at this moment, starting pitching has been really good and the bullpen's been outstanding. They've been able to come in in really big situations and limit the damage. It's making it easier for the offense to go out and do their job.

Q. The Orioles pitchers seemed to have a hard time putting your team's hitters away. Just how important is that to an offense, just to, like, not give up in any at-bat and to come through in those sorts of situations?

NATE EOVALDI: For me, when I'm out there pitching, I try to get as fast outs as possible to get my offense back in the dugout. The faster I can get them in the dugout, I think they'll have more success at at-bats. I feel like our guys have been doing an extremely good job of seeing pitches. Nate had a 15-pitch at-bat today. It didn't end in a good result. He ended up getting out. He ended up hitting a home run later.

The more pitches the batters are able to see, the better success they'll have. I try not to throw more than four or five pitches to a batter. If I can do that, I feel like I'll be able to last longer in the game and go out and have success. Thank you all.