The 2025 American League Cy Young Award winner came as no surprise, Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal. Skubal had another phenomenal season but for the Texas Rangers’ organization it was hard to see one of their own not named as a finalist let alone the victor, Nathan Eovaldi.
Eovaldi easily had the best season of his career and was arguably on track to dethrone Skubal for the Cy Young before he was sidelined with a season ending injury in late August.
Luckily the strain to his right rotator cuff only ended his year and won’t keep him off the roster in 2026, but it is hard to not play the ‘what if’ game had he stayed healthy.
Eovaldi vs. Skubal in 2025
Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images
Since Skubal finished the year out he has the obvious upper hand in strikeouts with 241 compared to Eovaldi’s 129. However, the fact that Eovaldi only had two less wins, a better ERA/WHIP and held opponent’s to a lesser batting average which is more than impressive.
| Eovaldi | Skubal | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Starts | 22 | 31 |
| Record | 11-3 | 13-6 |
| ERA | 1.73 | 2.21 |
| Opponent’s Batting Avg. | .194 | .200 |
| WHIP | 0.85 | 0.89 |
No, there is no telling what would have happened had Eovaldi finished the year out, but he was definitely on track to finish the season with an ERA under 2.00 complemented by a WHIP under 1.00. In his final seven starts to finish 2025 he had:
- 1.93 ERA
- 5-0 Record
- 43 Strikeouts
- 8 Walks
- 0.86 WHIP
As soon as Eovaldi went down it felt like the Rangers’ season was done and once they officially missed the playoffs there was nothing but questions surrounding the potential outcome had he finished the year out.
Do the Rangers win the division? Do they at least make the playoffs? Move passed the wild card? Does Eovaldi win his first Cy Young Award? Unfortunately, nobody will ever know now, but had he finished it seems a near guarantee that he would of at least been a finalist this year.
On the bright side of this melancholy note Eovaldi is expected to be on the roster when opening day rolls around in the Spring, so if there is anything positive to come from the abrupt ending to his year it is that.
Anytime a player goes down for the year, especially a pitcher, it is usually a fair assumption they will be missed the following year as well.
Luckily, as of now, that is not the case for the Rangers’ ace. It would have been hard to take down Skubal this year, but Eovaldi could come out with a massive chip on his shoulder next season and ready to finish what he started in 2025.
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