ARLINGTON -- ¡°Simple Man,¡± Jacob deGrom¡¯s longtime warm-up song blared throughout Globe Life Field on Sunday afternoon.
It was a welcome tune for many as the Rangers' ace made his 2025 debut.
deGrom -- who signed a five-year, $185 million deal entering 2023 -- has only made 10 starts since joining the Rangers. But every time he¡¯s been on the mound, he¡¯s looked like the two-time Cy Young Award winner Texas expected.
After a long Tommy John rehab, deGrom admitted to being a bit nervous to take the mound at Globe Life Field, even though he did make three starts in September last season.
On Sunday, he looked like THE guy once again.
¡°I get jitters every time I take the mound,¡± deGrom said. ¡°I have a hard time eating that day, I get super nervous. It is what it is. It¡¯s just about wanting to go out there and compete at a high level. I'm always pretty anxious the day I pitch. So the jitters won't be gone, but now it's just about locking in on those mechanics and trusting the stuff.¡±
If he was nervous, he didn¡¯t show it. He never does. deGrom dominated Red Sox hitters, tossing five scoreless innings in the Rangers' 3-2 series finale win.
¡°As a baseball fan, you want the best players to be out there,¡± said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. ¡°That's the reality of it, understanding that he's a tough one. At one point, he was the best of the best."
deGrom struck out six and issued two walks, both to Wilyer Abreu, who caused trouble for the Rangers all Opening Weekend.
But deGrom was still deGrom. He allowed two hits, but each time he shut down the Red Sox to keep the runners from making it home.
¡°It was a really, really nice job by Jacob,¡± said Rangers manager Bruce Bochy. ¡°He got us to where we were hoping with five solid innings. He did his job and stepped up. He's throwing free and easy. He's excited about how he feels. That¡¯s nice to see, because he's such a big part of this staff. It's good to have that guy out there every fifth day.¡±
It was also deGrom's first MLB outing of at least five innings since April 23, 2023, against Oakland, when he allowed two runs (one earned) over six innings just weeks before he landed on the injured list with a right elbow injury that would eventually lead him to undergo Tommy John surgery.
deGrom got better and better as the game went on, though he said he was still fighting himself a bit mechanically.
He didn¡¯t collect his first strikeout until the third inning, when he struck out Jarren Duran and Alex Bregman with a pair of changeups to strand a runner in scoring position.
In the fourth inning, deGrom got Triston Casas, Kristian Campbell and Connor Wong to strike out, getting all three to chase sliders. He completed his debut with a swinging strikeout of Rafael Devers in the fifth inning.
deGrom said he could¡¯ve gone even longer on Sunday if necessary, but Bochy felt like he did his job in those five innings. He left with the Rangers in the lead, though it became a back-and-forth affair in the sixth inning.
¡°You could just see it get better and better with him and the command of everything,¡± Bochy said. ¡°He had great command, a really good slider, good fastball and command of the changeup. He did well today. It was a good start for him. He did his job and stepped up. Just a terrific job.¡±
After a long Tommy John rehab and recovery for much of 2023 and ¡®24, deGrom returned to the mound in September. The Rangers opted to slow play deGrom in the lead-up to Opening Day, slotting him at the back end of the rotation in hopes of keeping him fresh throughout the season.
The plan is now for deGrom to go six or maybe even seven innings his next time out as he and the Rangers keep taking things day by day.
¡°It's fun, as a catcher, catching good pitchers,¡± Kyle Higashioka said. ¡°That's what you hope for. I think there's even more in the tank, too. There's more sharpness there. So just to see him close to his best, that's good. We all know what he's capable of. This is just business as usual. Obviously, no one's gonna finish the season with a zero ERA, but it's just good to see him back throwing well.¡±