Texas Rangers Star Will Be Used As Fifth Starter To Give Him Extra Day of Rest

The Texas Rangers will provide their star pitcher an extra day of rest by making him the fifth starter.

Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at Angel Stadium. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers are expected to get back one of their star players this season, with ace Jacob deGrom set to make a return after Tommy John surgery held him out for much of the 2024 camaign.

Initially, it was unclear what role he would have upon his return, whether it was jumping into the spot spot with Nathan Eovaldi being a free agent or being placed further down the line if the right-hander re-signed with the team.

The latter happened when Eovaldi inked a deal to return.

Now, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Rangers plan to utilize deGrom in the fifth starting spot rather than higher up the chart. The reasoning behind this is to give him an day of rest prior to each of his first five starts this season.

This move may only be a temporary one to ensure his workload is managed well since, given his last two seasons, it is a much safer route to protect him with other rotational pitchers and extra days off than it is to push him hard out of the gate.

That should ensure he can handle the workload before getting back to his expected role.

The plan is for deGrom to make his spring training debut on Friday after facing live batters on March 1 to prepare. This will give the team and fans a good look at one of their elite talents, albeit in likely a short stint, so they can see how he does against a mix of Major and minor league talents.

Having made only nine starts since coming to Texas, the hope will be to get him into a semi-normal workload early, see how he responds to it, then go from there when it comes to potential advancement up the rotation.

With Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle and Cody Bradford likely the remaining rotational arms for Opening Day, he will have some good options ahead of him to keep things normal for the time being.

The hope is that by protecting him early on and working him into a larger role eventually, they can not only protect his health, but also have him in full working order come August, September, and if things go well, October.