Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom is hopeful he won’t have to miss any additional time after leaving Thursday’s start with what the team described as right triceps fatigue.
deGrom pitched only two innings in Texas’ 7-0 defeat to the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif. After the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said deGrom would likely have a scan performed on his pitching arm.
During a 32-pitch second inning, deGrom spun around and looked back toward the mound in frustration following a pitch to Adam Frazier. The two-time Cy Young Award winner gave up five hits and two runs in the inning. Frazier later singled and scored, but deGrom stayed in the game and retired the next three batters to complete the frame.
“I’m not too concerned,” deGrom said postgame, according to the Dallas Morning News. “Hopefully I’ll make my next (start). We’ll see. Tonight, there in the second, it was tight and didn’t want to loosen up. I haven’t really had that before.”
Schumaker said afterward, “I wasn’t going to risk it once I heard (it was) the triceps. When (trainer Matt Lucero) came over and told me that, that was kind of it. Long inning, that particular inning especially, but hopefully it’s nothing huge.”
It was only the third start of deGrom’s career in which he worked two innings or fewer. The 38-year-old surrendered two runs on six hits, issued one walk and struck out three, bringing his career total to 1,998 strikeouts. He threw 53 pitches, with 35 going for strikes.
DeGrom took the loss, moving his record to 8-8 while his ERA increased to 3.95. The five-time All-Star is now just two strikeouts away from becoming the 94th pitcher in major league history to reach 2,000, according to baseball-reference.com.