Texas Rangers Ace Plans to Reign In Fastball After Recent Injury Struggles

The former Cy Young winner made his first Spring Training appearance over the weekend.

Sep 13, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Texas Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (48) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images | Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

Texas Rangers fans got to enjoy flamethrowing ace Jacob deGrom for the first time this Spring Training on Saturday afternoon, who tossed two perfect frames against Kansas City in a 5-3 but noticeably dialed back his typical near-triple-digit fastball.

DeGrom wearing blue and red is still an adjustment for even the most dialed-in Rangers fans, with the veteran pitcher only having appeared in nine total regular-season games for Texas over the past two seasons thanks to a 503-day recovery from Tommy John surgery, and the former Cy Young winner is hoping that a less fiery fastball will keep him in the rotation this season.

"It felt good, we took it a little slow this spring, but getting out there, obviously, is a big plus," deGrom told Victory+ after Saturday's outing. "I was able to locate pretty well. The biggest thing from that one was that locating arm side was not great, but everything to my glove side was good, and that's where I normally throw the ball. Just to some of those lefties where I'm trying to go away, I've just got to stick a fastball in there a little better.

"...I look back at the two best years of my career and I didn't throw 100," deGrom told Victory+ after Saturday's outing. "I'd rather stick a 97 where I want rather than 100 that leaks back a little bit. I think it is a combination thing of health and also pitching smarter."

A ninth-round pick by the New York Mets in 2010, deGrom certainly overperformed his draft-night expectations after earning his first chance in the show four years later, maintaining an impressive 2.69 ERA in 22 starts to earn the 2014 NL Rookie of the Year Award.

DeGrom then blossomed into arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball, securing consecutive NL Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019, posting a historic 1.70 ERA in the former season.

As deGrom noted, this tremendous success came while keeping his fastball around the mid-90s — he maintained a 96 and 96.9 miles-per-hour average on his four-seam during his 2018 and 2019 campaigns respectively.

By next full season in 2021, however, his average fastball had jumped to 99.2 miles per hour and, despite a stunning 1.08 ERA, he was limited to just 15 appearances by a spree of elbow and arm injuries.

Playing just 20 total games over the past three seasons, deGrom was held out by the aforementioned UCL surgery from April 28, 2023, to September 13, 2024, when he threw 3.2 shutout innings against the Mariners.

DeGrom's fastball in that late-season outing touched 99 miles per hour on multiple occasions, so it will be interesting to see how long this new-found conservative approach lasts into the quickly approaching regular season.