The Texas Rangers have been without star pitcher Jacob deGrom since last April. DeGrom has spent the past 15 months rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, and may finally be close to making a return.
DeGrom threw a live batting practice session on Thursday. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said on Saturday that it went “really well” from reports he received according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Grant also reported that deGrom will throw again when the Rangers travel to Boston to face the Red Sox in a three-game series on Monday.
This is excellent news both for deGrom and the Rangers. At the trade deadline, the Rangers did not make any significant moves for starting pitching, even going as far as trading Michael Lorenzen to the Kansas City Royals because of the hope that deGrom would be able to return.
The Rangers are currently on the outside looking in on the postseason, sitting six game back of the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners for first place in the AL West and nine games back of the Royals for the third AL Wild Card position. The time is now for them to make a last-ditch push for the chance to play October baseball, and having deGrom back in the rotation would make that a much more manageable task.
Can Jacob deGrom return to Cy Young form, lead Rangers to postseason?
When healthy, deGrom has shown that he can be the best pitcher in baseball. During deGrom's last full season (not including the shortened 2020 season) in 2019 with the New York Mets, he won the National League Cy Young award, leading the league 255 strikeouts and recording a 2.43 ERA. The previous season, deGrom also won the NL Cy Young, recording a career and MLB-low 1.70 ERA and striking out 269 batters.
It may be unreasonable to place the Rangers' postseason chances on deGrom's shoulders, but he could play a significant role in helping the reigning World Series winners get back to October. If he's pitching like he was during his back-to-back Cy Young seasons with the Mets from 2018-19, that could be just the spark the Rangers need.
Their odds at making a run will be even better if they're able to get Max Scherzer back from the injured list as soon as possible. With deGrom, Scherzer and postseason hero Nathan Eovaldi at the top of their rotation, no team would want to face the Rangers.
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