KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In 2023, the Rangers pulled Jacob deGrom out of a start at Kauffman Stadium in what was the start of the rocky path to his Tommy John surgery.
Talk about flashbacks.
On Tuesday, at Kauffman Stadium, Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young said deGrom’s scheduled turn Wednesday in Kansas City would be skipped due to some shoulder “fatigue.” The good news: He was sent back to Arlington, examined by team physician Dr. Keith Meister and cleared to continue throwing. He will not be placed on the IL and is expected to only miss this turn through the rotation.
It will be the first time this season deGrom has missed a start. He leads the Rangers – and ranks 16th in the AL – innings pitched with 140 ⅓ over 24 starts. He leads Nathan Eovaldi, who ranks second on the staff, by 17 innings. He ranks fifth in ERA among qualifiers at 2.76.
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“Everything checked out great,” Young said. “Jacob didn’t really want to do this. At the maximum, he just wanted a couple of extra days, but we felt like it’s prudent to just skip a start, give him a full extra turn of rest and then let him jump back in.
“Its tough timing, but honestly, Jacob’s been tremendous for us all season long, and the last thing we, as an organization, are going to do is put him in harm’s way after everything he’s done this year. In essence, we took the decision out of his hands.”
DeGrom’s return has been nothing short of remarkable. After pitching a total of 105 innings from 2020-24 due to a variety of injuries that culminated with the elbow surgery, deGrom has been the staff’s most durable pitcher. But he’s also already pitched more innings this season than in any season since 2019 when he won his second Cy Young Award.
He’s been so reliable, the Rangers have had to discuss limiting his workload to tamp down how big a jump he makes in innings. There is concern that a big jump in workload can lead to additional stress on the elbow.
The last month has been a bit more of a struggle for deGrom. He’s allowed 10 homers over his last 45 innings pitched and has a 4.20 ERA in that eight-game stretch. It has pushed his ERA from 2.08 to 2.76.
The Rangers were unsure how they would replace deGrom for Wednesday’s start. They could pitch the game from the bullpen, call up lefty Jacob Latz or push Patrick Corbin, currently scheduled to pitch Thursday, up to Wednesday. If so, Corbin would still be pitching on “normal” four days of rest.
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