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The first two years of Jacob deGrom's contract with the Rangers were mainly spent on the IL.
He made just three starts towards the end of last season as he was recovering from a second Tommy John surgery, but after having a healthy offseason and full spring training, he's finally ready to roll.
The right-hander is officially back and delivering the type of performances Texas was expecting when they handed him a big money five-year deal a couple of winters back -- Wednesday night was another one of those.
Taking the mound against the high-powered Yankees lineup in his first New York start since the 2022 National League Wild Card round, deGrom put together seven strong innings of work.
He did get off to a bit of a slow start, allowing the Bombers to put two on in the first and then Anthony Volpe led off the second with a triple and later scored -- but it was smooth sailing from there.
deGrom retired the next 15 batters in order before the scorching hot Cody Bellinger crushed a solo homer to cut into the Rangers' two-run lead leading off the bottom of the seventh.
He easily set aside the next three batters to finish off his fourth quality start of the season with a final line of two runs allowed on three hits to go along with just one walk and nine strikeouts.
It was also the first time he topped the 100-pitch mark this season.
"Everything felt good," deGrom said postgame. "You miss that much time, it's good to pitch anywhere -- but having spent so much time in New York, getting back on the mound here, it was fun tonight."
Fittingly in his return to the Big Apple, the 36-year-old ended up being handed the tough-luck no-decision as the Rangers were walked off, but he continues to prove that even after a few injury-plagued seasons he's still among the best in the game.
deGrom has now allowed just five earned runs in each of his last five starts -- pitching to a strong 1.45 ERA and 0.81 WHIP with five walks and 36 punch outs over that span.
"The main thing is the mental thing," he said. "You want to be out there competing. The goal is to be out there as much as I could, to take the ball as many times as I could -- when you don't, you feel like a real letdown."
If deGrom is able to stay healthy, perhaps he'll have his shot at a Citi Field return later this season.
Continue reading...
He made just three starts towards the end of last season as he was recovering from a second Tommy John surgery, but after having a healthy offseason and full spring training, he's finally ready to roll.
The right-hander is officially back and delivering the type of performances Texas was expecting when they handed him a big money five-year deal a couple of winters back -- Wednesday night was another one of those.
Taking the mound against the high-powered Yankees lineup in his first New York start since the 2022 National League Wild Card round, deGrom put together seven strong innings of work.
He did get off to a bit of a slow start, allowing the Bombers to put two on in the first and then Anthony Volpe led off the second with a triple and later scored -- but it was smooth sailing from there.
deGrom retired the next 15 batters in order before the scorching hot Cody Bellinger crushed a solo homer to cut into the Rangers' two-run lead leading off the bottom of the seventh.
He easily set aside the next three batters to finish off his fourth quality start of the season with a final line of two runs allowed on three hits to go along with just one walk and nine strikeouts.
It was also the first time he topped the 100-pitch mark this season.
"Everything felt good," deGrom said postgame. "You miss that much time, it's good to pitch anywhere -- but having spent so much time in New York, getting back on the mound here, it was fun tonight."
Fittingly in his return to the Big Apple, the 36-year-old ended up being handed the tough-luck no-decision as the Rangers were walked off, but he continues to prove that even after a few injury-plagued seasons he's still among the best in the game.
deGrom has now allowed just five earned runs in each of his last five starts -- pitching to a strong 1.45 ERA and 0.81 WHIP with five walks and 36 punch outs over that span.
"The main thing is the mental thing," he said. "You want to be out there competing. The goal is to be out there as much as I could, to take the ball as many times as I could -- when you don't, you feel like a real letdown."
If deGrom is able to stay healthy, perhaps he'll have his shot at a Citi Field return later this season.
Continue reading...
