Injured Texas Rangers Star Could Make Massive Comeback in Return Season

Two years ago, the Texas Rangers made one of the biggest signings in franchise history.

But two years into the Jacob deGrom era, he has made just a total of nine starts for the Rangers and even though he has been good when he's on the field, he simply has not been on the mound enough to make the deal not look like a disaster.

Granted, the deGrom deal of course far from tanked Texas' hopes of being a good team, winning the first World Series title in franchise history in 2023 after getting just six starts out of deGrom in his debut season.

Now seemingly healthy after returning late in the 2024 season to make three starts, what exactly the expectations are for deGrom is the big question.

During an appearance on Foul Territory, Jeff Bates of Texas Rangers Clubhouse issued a lofty expectation for the two-time Cy Young winner to make more starts than he has made in a very long time.

"I think his mind is clearer than it's been in years, but i do think the Rangers want to take some precautions here," Bates said. "I don't think it's unreasonable right now to think that Jacob deGrom could make 25 starts for this team...he's in a better place to go out and attack the season and he feels like he's got some real definition that everything is now okay and completely rebuilt."

deGrom making 25 starts in 2025 would frankly be nothing shy of a small miracle. He has not made a full slate of starts since 2019, and since that season the most starts he has made in a season is just 15. Perhaps one of the biggest 'what if' type players in this entire era of baseball, deGrom just simply hasn't been able to handle the workload of a full season or anything close to it in a very long time.

The Rangers knew this fact when they handed him a five-year deal worth $185 million ahead of the 2023 season, but he had been so dominant when he was on the field that they were comfortable taking the risk.

The two-year run deGrom had from 2018-2019 with the New York Mets was one of the best we've seen in baseball in a very long time, making a full 64 starts with a 2.05 ERA, a 0.941 WHIP and 524 strikeouts in just 421 innings pitched.

If Texas could even just get 50 percent of the kind of pitcher deGrom was at his peak, he would be a tremendous asset for the team in 2025 and beyond.

Of course the first step towards making that happen is simply making starts and while 25 of them may be a little bit too high of a hope, Bates certainly thinks the former ace is in the best position he's been in a very long time to do just that.