SURPRISE, Ariz. — It was the moment Texas Rangers fans had been waiting for since Dec. 2, when the team announced they had signed two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom to a five-year/$185M deal.
deGrom finally made his spring debut on Monday after he was delayed due to an injury to his left side. deGrom signed with the Rangers to be their ace, to lead their staff and to help the team compete in a tough American League West division that includes the perennial World Series favorite Houston Astros and the resurgent Seattle Mariners.
Unfortunately, the fans at home didn’t see his spring debut because deGrom pitched against the Omaha Stormchasers, the Kansas City Royals' Triple-A squad, and the game wasn’t televised. (The Rangers and Royals share a spring training facility in Arizona)
Still, fans were able to keep track of deGrom’s outing on Twitter, and Brice Paterik, host of the Locked On Rangers podcast discussed the outing on his show.
Paterik joked about the fact that no one other than the people in attendance saw deGrom’s performance, saying, “I would like to see him in a Rangers uniform pitching in a game that is televised before Opening Day.”
Rangers fans are hungry for this. deGrom coming over to the Rangers after leaving the Mets was a huge deal and the news of his injury made many of them think, “Why us?”
But thankfully, deGrom wasn’t sidelined for too long and he seems on track to be the opening-day starter for the Rangers on March 30. deGrom will be facing a familiar foe in the Philadelphia Phillies at the home opener.
As for his outing on Monday, the first inning was interesting. deGrom got a pop fly to left field to start, then gave up an inside-the-park home run before recording back-to-back strikeouts.
Another good sign for deGrom other than his health? He hit 99 miles per hour with his fastball and his slider was sitting at 92—his slider usually averages around 93, so he is on track. He had hit triple digits in a bullpen session prior to Monday’s outing so it seems he’s feeling good.
Overall, deGrom threw 24 pitches and 20 of them were for strikes. After the game, deGrom said, “When somebody steps in there, I want to get them out.” He moved over to the bullpen to continue throwing after is outing was over.
“Jacob deGrom, on a hill, pitching in a spring game for the Rangers. Everyone can just kind of let out a collective sigh of relief," Paterik said on Locked On Rangers.
The Rangers finished fourth last season in the American League West division with a 68-94 record and did a complete overhaul of their pitching staff signing deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, and Andrew Heaney. Now, they hope to end a six-year playoff drought.
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