Rangers Superstar Boosts Pitch Efficiency in First ‘Official’ Spring Training Start

This Texas Rangers ace was so efficient on Tuesday that he may already be on the verge of midseason form.

A Texas Rangers cap and baseball mitt. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Technically, Jacob deGrom has made a start for the Texas Rangers in spring training. It just didn’t count.

His game last week against Team Brazil in a World Baseball Classic exhibition was not an official spring training game. He threw well, as he only gave up a home run to Lucas Ramirez, the son former superstar slugger Manny Ramirez. But those numbers are not on his MLB.com bio page.

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Tuesday’s numbers against the Chicago Cubs are up there, though. And those numbers were even better than his numbers against Team Brazil and came against a better lineup.

Jacob deGrom’s First “Official Start”

Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Against Team Brazil, he allowed three hits in two innings, as he struck out three and walked none. He threw 39 pitches, with 27 strikes. Getting him two innings, after more than two weeks ramping up on the back fields in Surprise, was the goal.

Naturally, the Rangers wanted deGrom to build on that against the Cubs, and he did. But he was extremely efficient. He threw 43 pitches in three innings, 28 of which were strikes. He kept his per-inning average under 15 pitches per inning, something he didn’t do against Team Brazil.

Everything else was better, too. He gave up two hits and a walk. He also struck out five hitters. Those victims included MLB regulars Michael Busch — twice — and Matt Shaw.

The intriguing part was his pitch mix. He thew his slider (42%) more than his four-seam fastball (30%) and the slider was undeniably effective. That pitch forced 12 swings and six whiffs. The fastball forced eight swings and two whiffs. For the game he induced 25 swings, nine whiffs and three called strikes.

Texas is using the same ramp-up process with deGrom as it did a year ago, though the Brazil game him a chance to start in games a bit earlier than a year ago. He only made three spring training starts in 2025 and his manager, Skip Schumaker, is hoping for four. Given how they’re resting starters in spring training, deGrom may make one more start in Surprise and then his last one at one of the Rangers’ two exhibition games at Globe Life Field.

Both deGrom and the Rangers were happy with the results of last year’s ramp-up. deGrom went 12-8 with a 2.97 ERA, along with 185 strikeouts with 37 walks. He also had a 0.92 WHIP and finished in eighth place in AL Cy Young voting. He was also named the AL Comeback Player of the Year. His 172.2 innings was his most since 2019, which was the last of three seasons in which he threw 200 or more innings for the New York Mets.