Rangers Hope Jacob deGrom Duplicates This Impressive Streak in 2026

Jacob deGrom did something no pitcher had done in at least 125 years during his impressive comeback season in 2026.

Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom prior to the Mets Alumni Game at Citi Field. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

It took three years, but the Texas Rangers finally got some significant return from their five-year, $185 million deal with pitcher Jacob deGrom.

The right-hander injured his elbow in 2023, requiring major surgery, and returned late in 2024 to get a springboard for last season. As it turned out, he put together his first full season since the 2019 season and made the American League All-Star team for the first time. He was the easy choice as the AL comeback player of the year award winner after he went 12-8 with a 2.97 ERA in 30 starts, with 185 strikeouts and 37 walks with a 0.92 WHIP.

But, inside that comeback was an incredible streak that the Rangers hope deGrom can duplicate in 2026.

Jacob deGrom’s Impressive 2025 Streak

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

MLB.com’s Sarah Langs is one of the game’s foremost statisticians and historians and can connecting the modern game with historic connections. But what deGrom did in the season’s first three months had no equal in the game’s modern era.

From April 16 to July 1, a span of 14 starts, deGrom allowed six hits or fewer and two runs or fewer. That was the longest such streak for any traditional starter since at least 1900, per Langs.

In that span, deGrom went 9-2 with a 1.77 ERA in 86.2 innings, as he allowed just 56 hits and 17 earned runs. He struck out 87 and walked 15.

It’s the latter part of deGrom’s season that the Rangers will have to watch for. After the All-Star break, deGrom went 3-6 with a 4.18 ERA in 11 starts. He allowed 44 hits and 28 earned runs in 60.1 innings. Perhaps most worrisome was that he gave up the long ball, as he allowed 13 home runs in those final 11 games.

Still, the 37-year-old anchored a rotation that may have been the best in franchise history and had one of the best ERAs in baseball as a staff. Nathan Eovaldi and Jack Leiter are set to return, though Eovaldi missed the final month of the season due to an injury. Texas will be looking to fill out the rotation with internal options, at least to this point. Tyler Mahle just agreed to a deal with the San Francisco Giants and Patrick Corbin is a free agent and unlikely to return.

The internal options include Kumar Rocker, Jacob Latz, Cody Bradford and Jose Corniell.

deGrom has two more years left on his contract with the Rangers and he remains one of the highest-paid pitchers in the game. As he plays out the deal, his health is an important part of whether the Rangers can end a two-year postseason drought after winning the 2023 World Series, when deGrom was hurt.