Texas Rangers Veteran Pitcher Sets Ambitious Goals for Upcoming Season

The Texas Rangers are preparing for what they hope will be a bounce-back season after disappointment in 2024.
After winning the World Series in 2023, the Rangers had a tough year in 2024. Texas finished under .500 and was never a threat to make the postseason. Injuries certainly played a part in their struggles, but the team hopes to be healthy for the upcoming campaign.
One of the players that everyone will be keeping an eye on is Jacob deGromf. Since signing with the Rangers, the star right-hander hasn’t been healthy, unfortunately. However, the team has been able to find success without him in 2023, and if he can stay healthy, the sky is the limit for Texas.
Despite missing nearly the entire season in 2024, deGrom was able to knock some rust off at the end of last year.
Now, the right-hander has some lofty goals for what he’s looking to accomplish in 2025. Recently, he spoke with Kennedi Landry of MLB.com about what he’s hoping to do.
“The goal is to get out there as many times as I can,” deGrom said. “I'm sure we'd have to be smart with it. We don't want to jump to 200-and-something innings, but I'd like to be able to go out there and make 30 [starts]. That's the goal. You sign here to pitch. I haven't been able to do that. So the goal is to go out there and make as many starts as I can to help contribute.”
Considering that the 36-year-old hasn’t pitched over 100 innings in a year since 2019, making a jump to 200 would likely be unrealistic and potentially dangerous coming off of surgery.
Texas will likely make sure that they do all they can to make sure that they can keep their ace healthy, as he will be key for their success.
The goal of making 30 starts is an ambitious one, but perhaps limiting his innings during those starts can make it a realistic one.
When healthy and on the mound, deGrom has proven to be one of the best pitchers in the league. In his career, he has totaled a 2.52 ERA and has had multiple seasons with an ERA under 2.00.
Since he had surgery, the hope is that he will finally be able to stay healthy for an entire campaign. While the Rangers don’t need him to pitch 200 innings, they do need him to be available.
With only nine starts as a member of the Rangers, the franchise is certainly hoping that he can finally stay healthy this coming season. So far, it hasn’t been a good signing by Texas, but that can all change in 2025 if the veteran puts together an All-Star campaign.