Jacob deGrom Starts Sharp but Has Room to Grow After Rangers Debut

The first at-bat was vintage Jacob deGrom. He needed just four pitches to take care of Baltimore leadoff man Taylor Ward.

In fact, the first three innings were a good example of what he can be game in and game out. He gave up two singles in the first three innings, worked around a wild pitch and struck out four hitters.

From there, his pitch count got higher, Pete Alonso hit his first home run of the season, and he left a baserunner for reliever Cole Winn to tend to after just 4.2 innings on Tuesday night. The Rangers went on to win, 8-5.

Jacob deGrom’s First Start

Not as sharp as Rangers starter Jacob deGrom would have liked. 4.2 innings, 6 hits, three runs, seven strikeouts and no walks. Gave up a home run, a trend he wants to stop from last season. Here's the pitch plot. pic.twitter.com/4XH7qSSACU
— Matthew Postins (@PostinsPostcard) April 1, 2026

He nearly matched the five innings he put up in his first start a year ago at Globe Life Field after retiring the first two hitters in the fifth inning. But then he allowed a line drive to Blaze Alexander, a single to Ward and a two RBI double to Gunnar Henderson that tied the game at 3-3. With Alonso coming up, manager Skip Schumaker pulled the plug. Winn struck him out to end the frame.

Pete Alonso hits his first Orioles home run off Jacob deGrom 💪 pic.twitter.com/X4oqU2kcXT
— MLB (@MLB) March 31, 2026

deGrom gave up six hits, three earned runs and no walks. He also finished with seven strikeouts and threw 79 pitches, 56 of which were strikes.

For his first start, deGrom stuck closely to two pitches — his four-seam fastball and his slider. He threw the fastball 36 times and the slider 31 times. He threw his change-up 11 times and his curveball just once. Those percentages of use for Tuesday night lined up almost perfectly with his use percentages a year ago.

Per Statcast, he induced 44 swings, 12 called strikes and 13 whiffs, most of which came on his slider (10) playoff off his four-seamer (3). Combine his whiffs and called strikes he used his fastball and slider to induce those on all but one pitch, which was a curveball. His only curveball of the game led to a called strike.

His velocity was up across the board based on his averages last year, but only by less than a mile per hour, except for his slider. That averaged 92 mph on Tuesday, and it averaged 90.4 mph for the 2025 season.

The Rangers had hoped that deGrom could start the home opener on Friday. The stiff neck that delayed his start by three days means that won’t happen. But the advantage to the start on Tuesday is that he’ll make his next start on an extra day of rest, most likely on Monday in Arlington. It gives him time to refine what he started on Tuesday.