The Texas Rangers won’t win the World Series again this season and won’t make the playoffs. But two pitchers who are expected to be key pieces of the team next year are expected to pitch in the team’s series in Seattle next week, according to manager Bruce Bochy.
Jacob deGrom completed his rehab with Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday, pitching four scoreless innings with one hit allowed and five strikeouts. In four rehab starts, the two-time National League Cy Young Award winner pitched 10 2/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits with 15 strikeouts.
DeGrom and Max Scherzer, who also returns from the injured list, are expected to start the Rangers’ four-game series against the Mariners next week. However, manager Bruce Bochy wouldn’t commit to a specific schedule because Texas will have a six-man rotation when the two veterans rejoin the team.
“We have some flexibility at that level,” Bochy told the Dallas Morning News Sunday. “So I’m not going to announce the date or anything or what the plan is, but that’s what we’re talking about – how we want this to work.”
For now, Nathan Eovaldi and Cory Bradford will start Tuesday and Wednesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively. Andrew Heaney and Jack Leiter will also be on the ice in Seattle. But the question is how much rest to give deGrom and Scherzer between their final rehab appearances and their next starts.
Bochy’s dilemma could be compounded by bringing in top pitching prospect Kumar Rocker. Rangers general manager Chris Young said it is a possibility after Rocker struck out 18 batters in his two starts in Triple-A, allowing two runs and one walk in 10 innings. Rocker was Texas’ first overall draft pick (3rd overall) in the 2022 MLB Draft.
“I feel really good”, deGrom told Bally Sports Southwest“We felt it was really important to get that last start, get one more and work mainly on my speed. I’m trying to get all that sorted out before I come back and try to help the team.”
deGrom last played for the Rangers in April 2023, making six starts (striking out 45 batters in 30 1/3 innings) for the team before developing elbow inflammation and subsequently requiring surgery on the lumbar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He signed a five-year, $185 million free agent contract with Texas and will have three full seasons remaining on his contract, plus a club option for 2028. With that option, deGrom could still be worth $135 million.