Watch: deGrom Completes Memorable First Start for Texas Rangers
It was a long time in the making, but newly-signed Texas Rangers ace Jacob deGrom made his first start for the club on Monday. The start came against the Kansas City Royals Triple-A squad whom they share their Spring Training complex with.
Manager Bruce Bochy said deGrom would be limited to a maximum pitch count of 35 for his first start.
During his start deGrom touched 100 mph on his fastball and his slider was lively as it reached 92 mph.
deGrom's first at-bat resulted in a pop fly to left field that was handled with ease.
However, his second at-bat resulted in an inside-the-park home run off of the left-center field wall. It bounced around off of the fence causing trouble for the outfielder to handle.
Who had that on their bingo card for his first start?
His next two at-bats ended with him striking out the batter with a fastball and a slider, respectively.
deGrom then went out for a second inning in which he induced another pop up and three more strikeouts mixing in his fastball, slider, changeup, and curveball. He went through his repertoire and from all initial reports looked great.
Overall, deGrom looked solid and steady in his first "official" outing of the spring. He is still on track to start on Opening Day against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook and Twitter.
Need to catch up on the Rangers? Check out our Texas Rangers Offseason Central Page!
Need to get ready for Spring Training? Check out our Rangers Spring Training Tracker.
