The Texas Rangers won’t repeat as World Series champions this season and miss out on the playoffs. But two pitchers expected to be important to next year’s club will pitch during the team’s series in Seattle next week, according to manager Bruce Bochy.
Jacob deGrom completed his rehab assignment at Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday, throwing four scoreless innings with one hit and five strikeouts. In four rehab starts, the two-time National League Cy Young Award winner threw 10 2/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits with 15 strikeouts.
The plan is for deGrom and Max Scherzer, who is also returning from the injured list, to start in the Rangers’ four-game series against the Mariners next week. Manager Bruce Bochy wouldn’t commit to an exact schedule, however, because Texas will have a six-man rotation when the two veterans return to the team.
“We do have some flexibility there,” Bochy told the Dallas Morning News on Sunday. “So I’m not going to announce the day or anything, or what the plan is, but that’s what we’re talking about — how we want to work this out.”
For now, Nathan Eovaldi and Cory Bradford are scheduled to start Tuesday and Wednesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Andrew Heaney and Jack Leiter are also scheduled to pitch in Seattle. 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 if he were to call up top pitching prospect Kumar Rocker. Rangers general manager Chris Young said it’s a possibility after Rocker struck out a combined 18 batters in his two Triple-A starts, allowing two runs and one walk in 10 innings. Rocker was Texas’ top pick (No. 3 overall) in the 2022 MLB Draft.
“I feel really good,” deGrom told Bally Sports Southwest“We felt it was really important to make this last start, make one more and especially work on my off-speed. I’m trying to iron all that out before I try to help the team again.”
DeGrom last pitched for the Rangers in April 2023, when he made six starts (45 batters struck out in 30 1/3 innings) for the team before suffering from elbow inflammation and subsequently requiring surgery on the UCL in his right elbow. He signed a five-year, $185 million free-agent contract with Texas and has three seasons remaining on his contract, plus a club option for 2028. The option would leave deGrom owed $135 million.
