Sept. 20 — In a way, Jacob deGrom is not exactly where he wants to be: pitching a late-season game for the defending champion Texas Rangers, and this team fell far short of the playoffs.
In other words, he’s in the only place he wants to be: pitching, eventually — again — on the mound at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
DeGrom will be there for the opener of Texas’ three-game series against the Seattle Mariners on Friday night. It will be his first home start since April 28, 2023, against the New York Yankees.
DeGrom, a 36-year-old right-hander, two-time Cy Young Award winner and high-profile free agent signee ahead of the 2023 season, is recovering from a second Tommy John surgery he underwent early last season. He missed the World Series and most of Texas’ disappointing campaign this year.
DeGrom made his 2024 debut last Friday in Seattle against the Mariners, whom he will face this Friday. He went 3 2/3 innings, allowing no runs, four hits and no walks, striking out one batter and striking out four in 61 non-judgment pitches, including 41 strikeouts.
DeGrom said that although he would love to be more involved in the game, “It’s pretty cool. You spend so much time away from the game and go through the whole rebuilding process and then come back to the big leagues. Pretty cool.
The performance is vintage deGrom. He’s hitting 98 mph, but he said that after throwing mostly fastballs, he’ll take time to tweak his stuff before his next start.
“The last thing I wanted to find out was my slider,” deGrom said. “It’s not as consistent as usual.”
At least he’ll be facing familiar hitters, though the Mariners won three of four games against Texas last week (73-80), including last Friday’s game in which deGrom started, a 5-4 victory.
The next night, Randy Arozarena hit a bases-loaded hit in a 5–4 win over Texas and finished the year with his 20th home run Sunday in a 7–0 victory.
Seattle (78-75) avoided a three-game home sweep with a 3-2 win over the Yankees on Thursday and fell within two games of the final wild-card spot in the American League. The Mariners scored all of their points in the first period with Andres Munoz recording his 22nd save of the season.
“A great win this afternoon, we needed a win,” Seattle head coach Dan Wilson said. “Now we’re going to Texas. We’re on a nine-game run here. We’re going to do whatever it takes to win every game.”
George Kirby (12-11, 3.62 ERA) will take on deGrom on Friday. Kirby had thrown seven one-hit innings with three strikeouts in a 7-0 win over Texas on Sunday, giving the 26-year-old right-hander, making his eighth start of his career against Texas, a record of 6 wins and 0 losses with a negligible ERA of just 0.92.
He will face an inconsistent Rangers offense that ranks third-worst in the majors with 4.17 points per game, as does Seattle, which averages 4.08 points per game.
Aside from a 13-hit, 13-run explosion against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday, Texas has allowed just eight hits and two runs in three of its last four games and has been shutout twice, one of which was eliminated by Seattle.
“It happens sometimes, but … we’ve had a lot of days where it’s just completely off,” Rangers head coach Bruce Bochy said after Thursday’s 4-0 loss to the Blue Jays. “That’s not a good thing. Let’s be honest.”
–Visual-level media
