Rangers Ace Jacob deGrom Could Achieve This Rare Feat in 2026

Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom enters the 2026 season on the verge of entering rarified air historically.

Sep 24, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) throws the ball during the third inning against the Minnesota Twins at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers got a healthy season from star starting pitcher Jacob deGrom in 2025, something that was seen as a key toward getting the team back into the mix to make a deep playoff run.

DeGrom went 12-8 with an ERA of 2.97, struck out more than a batter per inning of work, and kept his WHIP comfortably below 1.00. Despite his combination of health and proficiency, the Rangers still did not do enough around him to get back to the postseason, making for a second consecutive letdown of a season.

Now as the 2026 season draws closer, deGrom enters the campaign with the opportunity to both deliver another stellar season in the hopes of bolstering team success and reaching a massive career milestone in the process.

Rangers' Ace Jacob deGrom Could Join This Club in 2026

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With his 185 strikeouts racked up in 2025, deGrom put himself in range of reaching 2,000 for his career if he can duplicate that sort of performance this year. He now has 1,851 in his storied career, which means he would need 149 to achieve the feat.

The 2025 campaign was the first time he breached the 149-strikeout threshold since back in 2019 while he was with the New York Mets. Since then, the combination of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and injuries have meant that he topped out at 146 in 2021.

There's little question that deGrom will be able to get there if he can remain healthy enough to be on the mound next season. He has shown little to no signs of slowing down on the whole, though his strikeout rate has certainly slipped from the absurd levels it reached when he was at his peak.

If deGrom is able to strike batters out in 2026 at the same rate that he did in 2025, he would need to work 140 innings to get to 149 strikeouts. That would mean he'd need to make somewhere between 21 and 26 starts, most likely. He made 30 in 2025.

It's also true that deGrom would already have joined the 2,000 strikeout club if not for the injuries that have robbed him of long stretches of his career. At his best, deGrom certainly ranks as the best pitcher of this generation, but whenever he does get to 2,000, it will be nice to see his legendary status more solidified.

Only 90 pitchers in MLB history have accomplished the feat, including several notable former Rangers like Yu Darvish, Kevin Millwood, Max Scherzer and of course, baseball's all-time leader in Nolan Ryan.