Rangers Catcher Jonah Heim: Jacob deGrom 'Put on a show'

Jacob deGrom wasn’t the only Major Leaguer doing time on the back fields at the Texas Rangers Spring Training facility in Surprise, Ariz., on Monday.

Turns out Jonah Heim was his catcher during deGrom’s 24-pitch outing, which was his first against hitters that weren’t Rangers.

Coincidentally, Heim was one of the players that took cuts against deGrom during his stint throwing batting practice last week.

Heim then caught deGrom for the first time in a live game situation.

“He looked amazing on Monday and I’m excited to see where it goes from here,” Heim said.

deGrom threw two innings in a Triple-A game against Kansas City Royals minor leaguers, giving up one hit and one run, which turned out to be an inside-the-park home run. He also struck out five.

deGrom utilized all four of his pitches and recorded a strikeout with his fastball, curveball, slider and changeup. His fastball even touched 100 mph.

Given that it was his first game appearance of any kind in a Rangers uniform, it drew quite the crowd. It also drew many Rangers, since they were preparing to face Arizona and deGrom’s start took place a few hours before first pitch.

Heim definitely took note that this minor league spring game had a much different feel to it. Those games are typically not well attended.

But the one on the aptly-named Nolan Ryan Field was.

“I think he’s a once-in-a-lifetime talent and I think you can see that from the fans, they noticed that and that’s awesome,” Heim said. “The support from the fans is huge. And, you can see from that, the fans are excited and they should be. And I think he put on a good show for them, too.”

deGrom reported no issues after the appearance. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Wednesday that deGrom would likely start the season on a restricted pitch count.

deGrom believes he’ll be ready for Opening Day.

"If somebody steps in there I want to get them out," deGrom said. "I was able to get what I wanted to today and able to throw, like I said, all four pitches. I’m happy with how it turned out. Everything felt good. I feel really good. That was the main goal."

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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