Jacob deGrom had been a Met for life up until last year.
In the offseason, the Texas Rangers offered him $185 million over five years to be their ace, and he gladly accepted.
Now, he has a responsibility towards Rangers fans: lead a talented rotation to respectability and, why not, dream about postseason baseball.
deGrom’s first assignment is taking the ball on Thursday, on Opening Day, to face the reigning National League champions: the Philadelphia Phillies.
Tomorrow, Jacob deGrom makes his @Rangers debut against the reigning NL champs. #OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/Qi1YIGBRWE
— MLB (@MLB) March 29, 2023
Philadelphia won’t have the injured Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins, but they will have the red-hot Trea Turner and other talented performers.
deGrom didn’t have his best season in 2022, yet still managed to post a brilliant 3.08 ERA with 102 strikeouts in 64.1 frames.
Injuries robbed him from most of the first half, but after a bit of a scare this spring, he is 100 percent healthy.
The two-time Cy Young award winner has a career 2.52 ERA in parts of nine seasons in the majors.
His arm doesn’t have a ton of mileage, though.
He has, however, become notoriously injury-prone over the last couple of years.
After his back-to-back Cy Youngs in 2018 and 2019 and a fine showing in 2020 (a 2.38 ERA in 12 starts), deGrom has made only 26 starts between 2021 and 2022.
He has suffered shoulder, lat, scapula, and even elbow issues over that timeframe.
Fortunately, he has avoided elbow or shoulder surgery and remains arguably baseball’s best pitcher when healthy.
The Rangers will deal with the risks, sure, but will also reap the benefits of having him healthy for as long as he stays that way.
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