ARLINGTON -- Bruce Bochy admits that sometimes even he has to temper his expectations when Jacob deGrom takes the mound.
After all, it¡¯s easy to forget deGrom is only human, even if he is a human who boasted a career ERA of 2.51 entering his Saturday start against the Rays.
¡°I think it's so easy to take for granted,¡± Bochy said pregame. ¡°Believe me, I'm superstitious. The last thing I want to hear is that ¡®Oh you got Jacob going.¡¯ But he is that good. I understand it. Expectations are obviously way up there, but he's a human that plays a game. Anything could happen in a game, bad hop, things like that. You don't know. I'm just saying you still got to go out there and perform well as a team.¡±
The Rangers did just enough as a team to beat the Rays, 6-4, on Saturday at Globe Life Field.
deGrom allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings, including a pair of homers that erased a four-run lead he had been gifted in the first inning thanks to home runs from Marcus Semien and Jake Burger. The Rangers' offense went silent afterward, mustering just four baserunners -- all via walk -- over the next five innings before a Kevin Pillar single and Wyatt Langford homer in the seventh inning to secure a Texas victory.
Despite a shaky day for the ace of the staff, the Rangers were still able to come out on top.
¡°It was huge,¡± deGrom said of the offense. ¡°These guys, we got a good group in there. Like we¡¯ve said before, everybody's trying to do their part. I was trying to put us in a position to win. The game got tied, but then the offense goes out and does what they do. It's impressive. Everybody's trying to pick each other up and move forward, and the bullpen did a great job of closing that out.¡±
deGrom hadn't allowed multiple homers in a game since Sept. 30, 2022, when he allowed three against the Braves as a member of the Mets. The four runs he allowed on Saturday were the most for him since Opening Day 2023 against the Phillies, when he allowed six runs in 3 2/3 innings.
deGrom said he felt like he was still fighting himself mechanically a bit. Through the end of Spring Training and during his first start against the Red Sox -- when he threw five shutout innings -- he said he felt like he was flying open arm side.
Even though there have been good results lately, the mechanical issues have still remained, especially on Saturday.
¡°Tonight, I didn't locate very well,¡± deGrom said. ¡°Everything was kind of up in the zone. I¡¯ve been working on trying to stay closed longer. I think it's gonna be a little bit of a process to get that right. Because of that, the offspeed was a little inconsistent. You just look at their approach, since I wasn't able to consistently get the ball down, it felt like they were just hunting something up. I made a few mistakes. But the most important thing is we got a win.¡±
Aside from the win, this was also a big step because deGrom hadn¡¯t pitched into the sixth inning of a game since April 23, 2023 against the A¡¯s. His 82 pitches tonight marked his most in a single regular-season outing since a 98-pitch start on April 11, 2023 in Kansas City.
Those marks alone are encouraging as he continues his first full season post-Tommy John surgery.
¡°I think once he gets his pitch count up, it builds strength and stamina,¡± Bochy said. ¡°He¡¯ll get stronger because of this. He threw a few more pitches and he¡¯ll get an extra day [of rest]. So, yeah I thought that was big for him to go back out there in the sixth inning.¡±
Despite everything, Bochy reiterated again postgame that even deGrom is allowed to have an off night or two. This time, the Rangers were able to pick him up.
¡°His stuff was good, but there were a couple fastballs that I'm sure he'd like to have back,¡± Bochy said. ¡°He's so good, and occasionally, they're gonna score some runs off on that. Sometimes you just take for granted that he's going to go out there and do what he did the first game. He might not have been quite as sharp the first game, but I thought he was still good. They just threw out some good at-bats.¡±