Texas Rangers Starting Pitcher Feeling 'Close' After Latest Strong Outing

Two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom has put together two consecutive strong starts for the Texas Rangers.

Apr 24, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) throws a pitch against the Athletics during the first inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

The season is about a month in for the Texas Rangers and Jacob deGrom has yet to win a game. That normally might be a reason for concern for the former two-time Cy Young award winner, but there is plenty of reason for optimism.

deGrom had strung together consecutive solid starts, including in Thursday night's 4-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics in West Sacramento. That’s something to build on for a Rangers club that’s received strong pitching in the early going.

deGrom worked into the sixth inning against the A’s and left with the lead. Texas was up 3-2 thanks to solo home runs from Josh Jung, Jonah Heim and Leody Taveras in the top of the fourth inning.

deGrom tossed 5.1 innings, giving up those two earned runs on six hits while striking out six. It was the third time in five starts this season that deGrom pitching at least five innings.

In his previous outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he threw a season-high 7.0 innings, striking out seven and allowing just one earned run on three hits. Trouble was the Rangers were shutout, losing 3-0.

But in those two starts against Oakland and the Dodgers, that’s just three runs total over 12.1 innings.

“I feel close,” deGrom said, according to MLB.com. “There's still work to do, but I’ll probably say that between every start. I’m constantly trying to perfect things. [Thursday night], the main thing was I wasn't able to make a pitch when I needed to.”

deGrom’s ERA is down to 3.33. It was 4.30 after his first three starts. The lack of run is obviously an issue for deGrom, who is 0-1, but the offensive issues have been a sore spot for the Rangers throughout the young campaign.

The veteran right-hander was in position to get his first win of the season against the A’s, but reliever Luke Jackson blew the save after allowing two runs in the ninth.

“It’s tough to get walked off, but probably [what frustrates me] more than anything is that we couldn't tack on in this ballpark,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said, according to MLB.com. “You’re hoping to add on and we had some chances there. We couldn't get a hit with runners in scoring position that came back to get us.

“We need to get these bats going. They are good hitters. We’re just trying to get things going there a little bit offensively. We had our chances. We just gotta get this thing clicking throughout the lineup.”