Sep 13, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Texas Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (48) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images
In some ways, Jacob deGrom isn’t where he wants to be: pitching late-season innings for a defending champion Texas Rangers team that is well out of playoff contention.
Otherwise, he’s where he wants to be: throwing pitches and, eventually, again, on the mound at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
That’s where deGrom will be Friday night for the start of the opener of Texas’ three-game series against the Seattle Mariners. It will be his first home start since April 28, 2023, against the New York Yankees.
DeGrom, a 36-year-old right-hander and two-time Cy Young Award winner who is a coveted free agent signing ahead of the 2023 season, is recovering from his second Tommy John surgery early last season. He missed a World Series and most of Texas’ disappointing campaign this year.
DeGrom made his 2024 debut last Friday in Seattle against the same Mariners team he’ll face this Friday. He pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowing no runs on four hits and no walks, and hitting one batter while striking out four in a 61-pitch no-decision that included 41 strikes.
While he would have liked to have gotten deeper into the game, deGrom said, “It was awesome. You spend so much time away from the game, you go through that whole recovery process, and getting back on a big league mound was pretty cool.”
The performance was typical of deGrom. He hit 98 mph, but he said he would spend time before his next start fine-tuning his technique after throwing mostly fastballs.
“The last thing I’m trying to figure out is my slider,” deGrom said. “It’s not as consistent as it normally is.”
At least he’ll be facing familiar hitters, although the Mariners won three of four games against Texas (73-80) last week, including 5-4 last Friday in the game deGrom started.
The next night, Randy Arozarena hit a bases-loaded single in a 5-4 win against Texas, and followed it up on Sunday with his 20th homer of the year in a 7-0 victory.
Seattle (78-75) is just two games out of the final AL wild-card spot after avoiding a three-game sweep at home against the Yankees with a 3-2 victory Thursday. The Mariners scored all of their runs in the first inning and held on as Andres Munoz earned his 22nd save of the season.
“It was a big win tonight, and we needed it,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said. “Now we go to Texas. We’re on a nine-game winning streak here. We’re going to do whatever it takes every night to win a game.”
George Kirby (12-11, 3.62 ERA) will start against deGrom on Friday. Kirby is fresh off of throwing seven innings of one-hit ball with three strikeouts in a 7-0 win against Texas on Sunday, and the 26-year-old right-hander is 6-0 with a minuscule 0.92 ERA in eight career starts against Texas.
He’ll face an inconsistent Rangers offense, which ranks in the bottom third of the majors at 4.17 runs per game, though so does Seattle, which averages 4.08.
Outside of a 13-hit, 13-run outburst in a win over Toronto on Tuesday, Texas has just eight hits and two runs in three of its last four games and has been shut out twice, once by Seattle.
“We’ll get them occasionally, but … we’ve had too many of these days where they’ve shut us down completely,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said after a 4-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday. “That’s not a good thing. Let’s be honest.”
–Field level media
