Making his first start in nearly 16 months, deGrom appeared more at ease than at any time during his first injury-marred season with the Rangers.
Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom, playing in his first rehab of the year as the Friso Roughriders, throws a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against San Antonio Missions, on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, at Riders Field in Frisco.FRISCO — His first competitive pitch in nearly 16 months was a 99-mph fastball, dotted to the top of the strike zone to which a 26-year-old Double-A outfielder simply couldn’t catch up. His second, just a bit higher, was called a ball.
Which is all it took before Jacob deGrom asked the home plate umpire — politely — exactly what was wrong with the location.Just in case you were wondering how seriously deGrom, whose freakish power may only be surpassed by his exceptional command, was taking his whole rehab stint. Put it this way: Very seriously.“Once you get out there, you’re competing,” he said after his two-inning, 29-pitch rehab debut when asked if he was joking with the umpire. “Competing is what we love to do.
It’s about a fast-track rehab assignment that may last three more outings and potentially put him back on the mound with the Rangers by the middle of September. It would give him two or three starts before the end of the season to further hone his command against MLB-caliber hittersFor a first step, Thursday went swell. From a suite above Riders Field, deGrom looked at ease and comfortable to GM Chris Young. That was the most important thing about Step 1.
“It felt really good,” deGrom said. “I know it’s still a work in progress. Location is still not there. I might have been a little amped up early on and left a couple in the middle, and they hit those. But the slider was good, the changeup was good. When I’m fully healthy, I’m constantly working on things, so trying to eliminate misses over the heart of the plate. That’s going to take a little bit of time.
The Rangers will follow up with him on Friday to see how he recovers and plan the next start from there. It could come anywhere between Tuesday and Thursday. Frisco is at Northwest Arkansas, so going to Round Rock, which is hosting Oklahoma City, might be easier. DeGrom would like increase his workload by an inning or about 15 pitches and would make at least two more after with similar incremental increases.“Based on what I saw, I’m pretty sure he’s feeling pretty good,” Young said.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Have You Noticed Power Rangers Take A Long Time To Morph? Yeah, So Did The Power RangersCustom image of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Power Rangers Samurai
Read more »
Cody Bradford Making Case to be Texas Rangers Starter in 2025Texas Rangers pitcher Cody Bradford, 4-1 in seven starts this season, figures to be an important part of the staff next season.
Read more »
Paul Schrader is making two films and he's making them fastThe First Reformed director is currently working on two new projects, titled The Basics Of Philosophy and Non Compos Mentis
Read more »
Texas Rangers First-Round Pick Takes His First Step Into A Larger WorldThe Texas Rangers have high hopes that 2024 first-round pick Malcolm Moore of Stanford is their catcher of the future.
Read more »
Texas Rangers announce signing of first-round pick Malcolm MooreThe 20-year-old catcher played two seasons at Stanford and was rated among the top prospects in this year’s draft class by FanGraphs (No. 18), MLB Pipeline (No....
Read more »
Rangers sign 16 of their draft picks, including first-rounder Malcolm Moore from StanfordThe Texas Rangers have signed first-round pick Malcolm Moore and 15 other players they selected in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft. Moore, a catcher out of Stanford, was the 30th overall pick. He took pregame batting practice with the Rangers after they announced the signings Wednesday.
Read more »