ARLINGTON, TX: On Friday, Jacob deGrom makes his season debut. The two-time Cy Young champion will start the Rangers' game in Seattle that evening, the team confirmed.
He hasn't played in the big leagues since April 2023. In June of last year, deGrom had Tommy John surgery. deGrom's return is a component of what should be an intriguing series, but it comes too late to offer Texas any chance of a postseason run.
In the opener on Thursday, the Rangers will start top prospect Kumar Rocker in his Major League Baseball debut. DeGrom will pitch the next evening.
Max Scherzer will be activated off the 15-day injured list and start on Saturday, according to manager Bruce Bochy, who spoke with the reporters this evening (X link via Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News). Texas will have to make room for both Rocker and deGrom on the 40-man roster.
deGrom has completed four rehab stints in the previous three weeks. He has dominated minor league batters, giving up only five baserunners in 10 2/3 innings and striking out 15. Using just 49 pitches, deGrom pitched four scoreless innings for Double-A Frisco on Saturday.
The Rangers had planned for deGrom to throw about sixty pitches during that session, according to Kennedi Landry of MLB.com, but they finally decided to cap him at four innings because of how well he pitched. That may indicate a pitch count of 65–75 at the beginning of this week.
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