SURPRISE, Ariz. − Kids are standing on the back fields of the Texas Rangers’ spring training complex, getting autographs from everyone wearing a uniform, when Jacob deGrom emerges.
Parents tug on their kids’ arms, whisper in their ears, tell them to drop what they’re doing, and go grab deGrom’s signature.
Suddenly, there are more than 100 kids surrounding deGrom, most of whom have never seen him pitch, let alone suit up for the Rangers, but they’re taking the advice from their giddy parents that this 36-year-old man must be pretty important.
They are told that this man just may be one of the greatest pitchers in baseball … when healthy.
The problem, of course, is that he just hasn’t been healthy.
It has been six years since deGrom last pitched a full season, capturing his second consecutive Cy Young award. It has been four years since he has pitched more than 96 innings in a season. It has been nearly three years since he signed a five-year, $185 million free-agent contract with the Rangers, pitching just 41 innings the past two seasons.
“Obviously, they’ve taken a toll,’ deGrom tells USA TODAY Sports. “You feel the disappointment. You feel terrible. I haven’t been out on the field nearly as much as I’d like to be. You feel like you’re letting everybody down because you’re not playing.
“And that hurts. It hurts bad.’
Now, after two Tommy John surgeries and a litany of injuries later, hoping to prove to the world, most of all to himself, that he once again can be the most dominant pitcher in the game, perhaps still giving himself a shot at Cooperstown.
He feels as good as he has in years. The fastball velocity is back to 98-mph. His curveball and slider are crisp. The changeup is lethal. And the pinpoint control has returned.
“If deGrom is throwing a pen,’ Rangers rookie starter Jack Leiter says, “it’s pretty much a stop-and-watch kind of event. Anybody in the area is putting down what they’re doing and watching because it’s probably the most impressive bullpen anyone has ever seen.’
And when he’s healthy, and pitching in games, well, there may be no one better.
“He’s a unicorn,’ Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux says. “He plays catch at 95-mph, and commands the ball. His stuff is as good as anybody’s in the game, and he commands the ball as good as anyone I’ve seen.
“Most guys that have that kind of velocity are like blow-and-go guys. He’s driving it through a spot pretty consistently. He’s kind of like a Lamborghini, you know, he’s got to be finely tuned. One he gets in those lanes he’ll start stepping on the gas a little bit, and he’ll be just like he was a few years ago.’
There was a five-year span with the New York Mets when deGrom was the best pitcher in baseball. He won two Cy Young awards, finished in the top 10 in Cy Young voting five seasons, led the league in strikeouts twice, won an ERA title, and was so dominant in 2021 he actually had more hits himself than earned runs he allowed in the season.
“You can make the argument that he’s in the category of the most dominant pitcher of all time,’ says Rangers outfielder Kevin Pillar, who also played with deGrom with the Mets. “It’s just the perfect blend of power and finesse and accuracy. He’s the perfect pitcher when healthy.
“I’ve been on 10 teams now, and I’ve been around a lot of really good pitchers, great pitchers, but there was nothing like coming out of the dugout in New York when he was on top of his game, ‘Simple Man’ was playing and feeling like you were about to witness history. I’ve never seen anything like him.’
It was just those injuries, everything from the elbow, shoulder, forearm, wrist, back, neck, side and hamstring, along with the Tommy John surgeries, keeping him from perhaps going down as one of the finest pitchers in history.
“You know, I try not to look at things that way,’ deGrom says. “There’s a lot of things that could be different. You can’t play the what-ifs. It’s out of your control. You do everything you can to stay out there. If somebody knew exactly what would work, then nobody would get hurt. Some guys go their whole careers with nothing. The reality is that it happened.’
DeGrom, married with three kids, made just six starts into his free-agent contract before undergoing Tommy John surgery in June 2023. He broke down in tears in front of TV cameras and reporters at a press conference to announce the decision.
“He even pulled a few of aside,’ former teammate Travis Jankowski says, “and told us, ‘Man, I just feel like I’m letting the team down. I’m so sorry.’ He felt like he was letting the owners down. He felt like he was letting C.Y. [GM Chris Young] down. He felt like he was letting his teammates down, the city down. You go through an injury like that first year after signing the contract, he felt terrible.
“We said, ‘Dude, you’re 1% of a 1% of a 1% pitcher. This isn’t something that you were out on a jet ski and fell off and broke your arm. Dude, this is an injury that happened in the game. You have nothing to feel bad about. We’re going to pick you up. Then, in the coming years, it’s on you.”
Now is that time, and really, even though deGrom had made only nine starts for the Rangers, his health really hasn’t cost them. The Rangers won the World Series without him in 2023. They were 78-84 and finished 10 ½ games out of first place in the AL West last year. So, even if he were healthy, the Rangers weren’t going to do better than winning the World Series two years ago and likely still wouldn’t have made the postseason last year.
Really, the way the Rangers see it, deGrom is arriving healthy just at the right time.
“Obviously, I haven’t been out on the field nearly as much as I’d like to be,’ deGrom says. “As a player, you feel like a disappointment because you’re supposed to be out there. You leave it all out on the field, and it’s then taken away from you.
“It just stinks.’
Can you imagine deGrom’s career if he was healthy this entire time? In deGrom’s four seasons in which he pitched 200 innings, he went 50-35 with a 2.53 ERA, striking out 968 in 913 ⅓ innings. In 2018, he was the best pitcher on the planet, going 10-9 with a 1.70 ERA, striking out 269 batters and walking only 46 in 217 innings. He still has the lowest career WHIP (0.944) and second-lowest ERA (2.52) of any starting pitcher in the live-ball era.
DeGrom refuses to feel sorry for himself, curse at the heavens or lament his fate. He knows he feels as good as he ever has, believe he can be dominant once again, and isn’t about to worry about the past.
“This game is funny,’ deGrom says. “Throwing the baseball is bad for you, right? All you can do is play this game, and we’re very fortunate to do it. It’s what you love to do. All the prep that goes into it, and all the offseason training. Then it’s taken away from you. It’s shines new light on it.
“I had my second Tommy John. I did my rehab. You’re upset it happened, sure, but you can’t get down yourself. So, here we we go, let’s see what we can do moving forward.’
DeGrom, who was able to make three starts at the end of last season and showing flashes of his brilliance, averaging 97-mph on his fastball and yielding a 1.69 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 10 ⅔ innings. He went home to Florida and was finally able to have a normal off-season. He felt like himself again and had a normal off-season workout routine. He tinkered with his delivery, believing his arm path got a little long, so he shortened it. He also has tried to ease up on his velocity, wanting to believe he can get the job done just as well throwing 95-96 mph than 101.
“The trouble is that it’s easier said than done,’ deGrom says. “It’s a thing you fight with when a batter steps into the box. It’s go-time. Where I struggle with it is that if I throttle down, and somebody hits a home run, you’re like, ‘Well, what if I didn’t throttle down. Maybe that wouldn’t have been the result.’
“So, it’s going to be something I play with. Locations wins most of the time. I’ve got to get back to that and we’ll see.’
The Rangers plan to be cautious with deGrom, making him the fifth starter to ease his workload, giving him extra days when needed. DeGrom still wants to make 30 starts, but the Rangers want to make sure he’s healthy come October. They plan on being back in the postseason, and who in the world would want to face a healthy deGrom.
“He looks good, and when he’s smiling like he is,’ Maddux says, “he makes everybody feel good.’
Who knows, if deGrom returns like the deGrom of old, stays healthy, he still could be a candidate one day for Cooperstown. While his focus is on winning another World Series, he’d by lying if the Hall of Fame didn’t cross his mind. He also knows he needs to stay healthy and rack up innings. He has pitched just 1,367 innings, which is nearly 1,000 innings fewer than Sandy Koufax’s 2,324 ⅓ total.
“Obviously, the highest honor you can get is to be elected to the Hall of Fame,’ says deGrom, “That was the goal. There’s some things that set me back, but I think I’ve got some years ahead of me to keep doing this so we’ll see where that that takes me.
“As a kid, you dream of being a baseball player, and then to play at the highest level, it’s pretty special. I’ve been able to do some pretty cool things in my career. But I know that’s in the past too. So, my goal is to put up zeroes, put my team in a position to win, and wherever that takes me, we’ll see.
“All I know is I’m ready. I’m excited to be out there. I can’t wait to see what’s ahead.’
Neither, of course, can anyone else.
“It’s the perfect time,’ Pillar says, “for him to be an ace again.’
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