Texas Rangers ace Jacob deGrom exited Thursday night’s start against the Los Angeles Angels after just two innings due to right triceps fatigue and is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Friday.
Despite the early exit, deGrom remained optimistic about his chances of making his next start.
“I’m not too concerned,” deGrom said after Texas’ 7-0 loss to Los Angeles. “Hopefully I’ll make my next start. We’ll see. It was tight in the second inning, and it just didn’t want to loosen up. I haven’t really had this before.”
The 38-year-old right-hander entered the game already managing a left hip and glute issue that has bothered him since the All-Star break. After working out of a two-on, one-out jam in the first inning, deGrom struggled in the second, allowing two runs on five hits during a 32-pitch frame before being replaced by Peyton Gray to start the third inning.
It marked the first time deGrom had surrendered five hits in a single inning since September 2017, when he was with the New York Mets.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said the team decided not to take any chances once deGrom reported discomfort in his triceps.
“I wasn’t going to risk it once I heard it was the triceps,” Schumaker said. “You never want to hear anything arm-related. Pulling a guy out in the second inning is concerning, but we’ll know more once he gets the imaging done.”
The injury adds to Texas’ growing rotation concerns. Earlier in the week, the Rangers placed Nathan Eovaldi on the 15-day injured list because of elbow inflammation, meaning the club could be without its top two starters for the foreseeable future.
“Our starting pitching has taken a hit, that’s the reality,” Schumaker said. “With two guys going down, we’ll see what it looks like, but it’s never easy when your No. 1 and No. 2 guys are out.”
DeGrom finished Thursday’s outing allowing six hits while striking out three and walking one. He remains two strikeouts away from becoming the 94th pitcher in MLB history and ninth active pitcher to reach 2,000 career strikeouts.
The outing was especially frustrating for deGrom, who entered hoping to provide much-needed length for a struggling Rangers team.
“It was very disappointing,” he said. “I needed to go out there and give us some length and wasn’t able to do it. I felt like I could probably keep going, but they said, ‘We’re not going to risk this right now,’ so we’ll see how it feels tomorrow.”
Once considered one of baseball’s most dominant pitchers when healthy, deGrom posted a 2.53 ERA over 622 1/3 innings from 2017-19 with the Mets while earning back-to-back NL Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019. However, injuries have limited him in recent seasons, as he has made only 35 starts from 2021-24 and underwent his second Tommy John surgery in June 2023.
The Rangers are now awaiting the MRI results to determine whether deGrom can return quickly or if the club will need to adjust its rotation plans during the playoff race.