Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom is set to begin a rehab assignment this week. The righty himself tells Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today (X link) that he’ll likely start for Double-A Frisco on Thursday. Manager Bruce Bochy says that it will either be Thursday or Friday, which will be the first of four rehab outings, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News on X. If all goes according to plan, the righty could be back in the majors by September 10.
deGrom underwent Tommy John surgery in June of last year and is now about 14 months removed from that procedure. Once upon a time, it seemed as though deGrom would be part of a trio of heroes riding in to help the Rangers in the second half of 2024. Tyler Mahle also underwent Tommy John surgery last year and was slated for a midseason return, while Max Scherzer opened the season on the IL after undergoing offseason back surgery.
The 2023 World Series champions hoped that they could stay afloat through the first half of 2024 with a strong offense and a rotation mix consisting of Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Michael Lorenzen, Cody Bradford, Dane Dunning and others. Ideally, they would have gotten stronger throughout the year and made a strong push in defending their title.
It hasn’t exactly played out that way, unfortunately. The team’s hitters have slashed a collective .239/.308/.381 for a 94 wRC+, putting them ahead of just seven teams in the majors. On top of that, the pitching has been a challenging carousel for the club all year. Due to various ailments, no one on the pitching staff has reached 130 innings pitched yet this year, while Eovaldi and Heaney are the only guys currently on the team with more than 100 frames. Lorenzen was traded to the Royals at the deadline and both Gray and Scherzer are currently on the IL.
The combination of injuries and some struggles around the roster have bumped the Rangers towards the back of the American League playoff race. They are 11 games back of the Astros in the West and then 12.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs give them just a 0.2% chance of cracking the postseason while the PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus are slightly more bullish at 0.8%.
At this point, the club is likely viewing deGrom’s return less as a spark plug for a 2024 postseason push and more about getting a few starts under his belt in preparation for the 2025 campaign. He and the Rangers signed a five-year, $185MM deal heading into 2023, though he’s only been able to make six starts on that deal so far, due to his aforementioned surgery.
The club managed to win the World Series last year even without him, but there’s still three years left on that deal, making him a key part of their next chapter. The righty has been one of the better pitchers in the world over the past decade, though the injuries have been an issue in recent years.
From 2014 to the present, he has a 2.53 earned run average in 1,356 1/3 innings pitched, striking out 31% of batters faced while only walking 5.8%. Among pitchers with at least 700 innings in that time, only Clayton Kershaw has a lower ERA while only Scherzer and Chris Sale topped deGrom in terms of strikeout rate.
In recent years, deGrom has provided even higher quality but with less quantity. He topped 200 innings from 2017 to 2019 but hasn’t even hit 100 since. The 2020 season was shortened to just 60 games by the pandemic and then deGrom missed time in the two subsequent seasons due to right side tightness, right forearm tightness and a stress reaction on his right scapula.
From 2020 to the present, he has tossed 254 2/3 innings with a 2.12 ERA and incredible 42% strikeout rate. That punchout rate is tops among all pitchers with at least 250 innings in that stretch, with Spencer Strider a distant second at 36.9%, while only reliever Emmanuel Clase bests deGrom in the ERA department.
At this point, it’s anyone’s guess what kind of form deGrom will be in when he returns. He is now 36 years old and coming off a lengthy injury absence. He also hasn’t been able to make more than 15 starts in a season since 2019.
The Rangers are set to lose both Scherzer and Heaney to free agency in a couple of months. Eovaldi could be joining them, as his deal has a conditional $20MM player option that he unlocks if he totals 300 innings pitched over 2023 and 2024 or finishes in the top five in Cy Young voting this year. Even if he unlocks that option, he might turn it down and head to the open market since he’s having a strong season and could secure a bigger guarantee over a longer deal in free agency.
If Eovaldi does depart, then the 2025 Ranger rotation on paper is deGrom, Gray, Mahle, Dunning and Bradford, with both Gray and Mahle slated for free agency after next year. Jack Leiter and Owen White are each on the 40-man roster but both have dealt with control problems.
Taken all together, deGrom’s form in the coming years figures to be a significant factor for the Rangers, considering how much they have invested in him and that there’s not a lot of long-term certainty in the rotation picture.
That’s awesome. Hope he comes back to he’s old self.
“Jacob deGrom To Begin Rehab Assignment”
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Death and Taxes
Would have been highly anticipated if Texas were playing for a playoff spot. Instead we look toward 2025 in hopes deGrom finds his old form.
Damaged goods, should just retire. Not a hall of famer in my book but he was a decent Met. Steve Cohen is retiring players numbers that do not deserve it. Keith Hernandez, Doc Gooden, Willie Mays are all undeserving. I can see them trying to retire Degroms number in the future. Awful franchise
Low energy troll job. You’re supposed to make it sound like you’re a fan. Went a little overboard trashing Keith, Doc, and especially Willie. Rein it in a bit.
Really dumb comment.
“Dumb comment”. I believe that was the whole point, to make a silly, incendiary comment to get a rise out of you. That comment was so dumb, it didn’t even really deserve a response.
LFGMets: If you hate the Mets so much, why is that your username?
At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
ny papi: I’m probably less religious than you, but I say let his soul have whatever it’s got coming.
I’m not really the religious type but this Billy Madison quote was very fitting with what he said, or pretty much fitting every time something spews from him
I wonder how hard degrom will throw after TJ
It could be 96 as his new max, or he could throw harder and fire 102 all the time
Who knows what his velocity will be like. His fastball had life on it, I don’t think he’s going to recover that right away. Honestly, Degrom won’t be at full strength until February 2025 when pitchers and catchers report for spring training. I could be wrong, I’m no expert, just making an observation.
Part of the reason why he had to undergo Tommy John surgery was the fact that he threw almost every pitch over 100 mph
I’ve never heard anyone say “I want my favorite pitcher to get TJ!”
But imagine what ohtani and degrom will throw when they get completely healthy…
Almost sounds like you are under the impression that TJS makes you throw harder.
In reality most never regain top velo
I realize it isn’t easy to do but degrom could think about adding some new pitches to his game to protect his arm, shoulder, elbow etc. A sinker, a cutter; experiment with different grips.
As an example Frank Tanana was a remarkable story as he reinvented himself about 3 different times in his career.
Degrom already has lifetime $ and a ring, now he could work toward a 2nd ring that he played a bigger part in. He could reorganize his contract and defer, back load some $ to help TEX at other positions
This was his second UCL surgery. It is most definitely not given that he can comeback to his old self.
True. His former hard-throwing teammate, one nicknamed Thor, never recovered fully from his first TJS. On the flip side, Nathan Eovaldi returned from his second TJS better than ever.
Worse human I have met
Explain
He can’t.
Too little, too late for 2024. Please stay healthy for 2025.
This is why Texas wasn’t able to insure deGrom’s contract. The only thing they could do was put a team option based on injury because the insurance was incredibly expensive.
What I would give for one more season where deGrom, Trout, and Kershaw all stay healthy for a full season.
“What I would give”…Clayton Kershaw has had plenty of healthy seasons, but is now in the twilight of his career. Don’t get me started on Mike Trout, because it’s highly disappointing to have MLB’s best player constantly on the IL, although he too had many healthy(and MVP) seasons during the first half of his career. We should all probably condition ourselves to the fact that we’ll never again see all 3 players healthy and playing at their usual level.
Unfortunately, that’s life. Sports fans have been “gypped” for generations. Tony Conigliaro, Herb Score, Jose Fernandez, etc. It’s part of life.
So if “deGrom” starts a sentence, it’s still not capitalized?!? Fascinating. You can learn something new everyday.
At one point, the Mets had deGrom, d’Arnaud, and den Dekker at the same time.
At least the Mets aren’t paying him like Scherzer & Verlander to pitch not for them.
In retrospect, it wasn’t a good plan.
You have to hand it to the guy for persevering…he’ll probably drop it and tear a ligament, but still…
Wishing deGrom the best. Who knows what he has left. Was sad to see him go but the Mets dodged a bullet not resigning him. I know things did really work out with Verlander but Texas has to pay deGrom for 3 more seasons.
He was actually quite durable from when he was called up partway into 2014 through 2020. 2020-24 a different story.