Jacob deGrom's new chapter with the Texas Rangers comes with lofty expectations. After leaving the New York Mets for a team positioned less to be a playoff contender, the 34-year-old is looking to show he is still one of the top players in the game.

deGrom has already won two Cy Young Awards and proven to be one of the best pitchers of his era but his Hall of Fame case is held back by his recent injuries. Achieving that recognition is his ultimate goal, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

“Greg Maddux has been here with us in this camp. Everyone is like, ‘That’s Greg Maddux.’ Everyone knows he’s in the Hall of Fame,” deGrom said, via The Athletic. “That is the ultimate goal, to be recognized as one of the best players to play the game. It’s definitely a goal. But that starts with going out there and making 30 starts a year, throwing the ball like I’m able to do. Focusing on one pitch at a time. That’s one thing I did a good job of in ’18-’19 — focusing on what I can control.”

As he begins his tenure with the Rangers, deGrom seems poised to be one of many pitchers who dominated for too short of a time period to make the Hall of Fame. After pitching under 100 innings in each of the last two seasons, he has to prove he can stay healthy and be dependable for the entire durations of seasons. He's not off to a great start but still has time to shed his perception of being injury prone.

The Rangers could be a competitive team with guys like Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Martin Perez, Adolis Garcia, Jonah Heim, Nathan Eovaldi, Nathaniel Lowe and Andrew Heaney surrounding Jacob deGrom.