Yes, Jacob deGrom needs to pitch as Texas Rangers fade

The two-time Cy Young winner wants to log innings and experience a normal offseason ahead of 2025.

ARLINGTON — Updates the past few weeks on Jacob deGrom’s progress toward a rehab assignment have increasingly been met with derision. The groans have coincided with the Texas Rangers’ fall from contention.

A popular reaction has been a call for the Rangers to shut down the right-hander and save him for next season, when the Rangers will toe the starting line with high hopes and a disappointing season. Gee, they’ve already reverted to that familiar position?

Yes, they have after losing 16 of their past 21 games. Just when things look as if they might turn around, like they did Aug. 5 on Josh Smith’s walk-off homer to beat the Astros and Wednesday after a thrilling win at Fenway Park and even Aug. 9 when Nathan Eovaldi took a lead into the eighth inning, nothing comes of it.

For things to turn around next season, the Rangers need deGrom to be healthy and free of any doubts that his surgically repaired right elbow. So, deGrom is going to pitch.

The games might not matter for the Rangers’ hopes in 2024, but they sure do for 2025 as the Rangers try to determine how good deGrom can be and how much of a workload he can handle considering he hasn’t had a full workload since 2019.

“It’s a legit question because he has missed some time and is coming off surgery,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “I can’t tell you we’ll ramp him up that much for next year, but those are things we need to talk about with the time that he has missed.”

The Rangers signed deGrom in December 2022 to a five-year deal worth $185 million, but he made only six starts in 2023 before needing Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career. The Rangers won all six of his starts, so his contributions were needed as the Rangers narrowly reached the postseason.

When healthy, deGrom is historically good. He won two Cy Young awards in the National League before leaving the Mets, and his 2.53 career ERA is the third-lowest since 1961 among pitchers with at least 200 starts. The guys ahead of him are Sandy Koufax (2.18) and Clayton Kershaw (2.49).

No pitcher in MLB history recorded more strikeouts (1,652) in his first 215 outings than deGrom, and his career average of 10.96 strikeouts per nine innings is second in MLB history behind only Chris Sale (11.1).

So, it was not a surprise that deGrom wasn’t thrilled Aug. 17 after his third session of live batting practice. He came out of it healthy, which was pleasing, but his inability to locate his pitches low in the strike zone resulted in some hard contact in his second “inning” of work against Robbie Grossman, Ezequiel Duran and Travis Jankowski.

“Whenever somebody steps in, I don’t like the ball being hit,” deGrom said.

The next step is a rehab outing late this week for Double A Frisco, the timing of which will depend on how well his arm recovers. The Rangers are still trying to win games, but with their chances of reaching the postseason now less than 1 percent, they can take their time with deGrom.

But there is no indication that he won’t pitch at some point in September.

“For him, yeah, it will be important for him to get out there,” Bochy said. “He’s an athlete. He’s a pitcher. He wants to compete. You go down such a long road to get back in shape and ready to go, and he’s pretty close now. Sure, I think it would mean a lot to him. He’ll go into the offseason and he knows he’s ready to go. You don’t have that unknown factor.”

Naturally, deGrom agrees. After surpassing 200 innings per season from 2017 to 2019, he hasn’t thrown more than 100 since. He did throw a full season in 2020, but COVID shortened that season to only 60 games.

A series of injuries slowed him in 2021 and 2022, but the Rangers were comfortable with his medical files while pursuing him after the 2022 campaign. He arrived at his first Rangers spring training with soreness in his side and was delayed to open camp, and his elbow started to bark April 17 at Kansas City.

He made two more starts, leaving his last after 3 2/3 innings

Other than Opening Day, when he allowed five runs in 3 2/3 innings to the Phillies, deGrom was dominant. He became the only pitcher in franchise history to record 45 strikeouts and allow only four walks in his first six starts.

He compared his session Saturday to the 2023 opener. He was amped up to face hitters and was having trouble commanding his pitches at the bottom of the strike zone. An adjustment for the last of his three “innings” of the day got him closer to where he wants to be whenever he makes his 2024 debut.

“I get jumpy, and that makes my stuff climb up,” deGrom said. “The first inning was fine, the second was terrible, and then I got pretty mad. That’s what happens. I can’t pitch when I’m that mad. The third one was fine.”

He described the three levels of the strike zone and was in the middle too much. Getting the ball down will come with more extension, which deGrom said is the last thing to come for a pitcher coming off of a significant layoff. His last start was April 28, 2023.

That’s why, even with the Rangers’ postseason hopes dashed, deGrom won’t be shut down.

“Get out there this year and kind of treat it like a normal offseason and get ready for next year,” deGrom said. “It’s important to get out there this year.”

Jeff Wilson, jwilson@alldlls.com