5 Important Takeaways from the Rangers' Opening Series Against the Cubs

#2: Evo Picked up Where he Left Off in Game 5

In his first real action since game 5 of the World Series in Arizona, Eovaldi threw 6 innings giving up just 4 hits and two runs on Opening Day.

Despite only striking out three, Evo was sitting upper 90s with the fastball and dropping his filthy split-finger off of it looking like the ace we saw for the majority of 2023.

A great sign for a starting rotation that is going to be some form of injured and aging for most of the season. Being able to count on Nathan Eovaldi every fifth day will be a huge bump.

#3: New Bullpen Pieces Showed Promise

The bullpen, out of all things, looked pretty good minus Jose Leclerc's miscue on Sunday afternoon.

Both Kirby Yates and David Robertson looked very effective on Opening Day each tossing a scoreless inning without giving up a hit. Both made appearances in game two as well looking sharp going along with the 11-2 routing.

Game three featured Jose Urena and Yerry Rodriguez who combined for 4.1 innings, 4 strikeouts, no runs, and just two hits. A great sign for the bullpen, which we all know was a bit of an adventure last season.

Robertson and Yates are expected to be high-leverage guys in the back end of the pen and showed just that. But if Urena and Rodriguez can put together quality seasons then that could be a massive boost that can not be overstated.