'Nobody wants this': deGrom frustrated by trip to IL

ARLINGTON -- Jacob deGrom is understandably and obviously frustrated.

The Rangers ace landed on the 15-day injured list on Saturday with right elbow inflammation, which caused him to leave his last start in the middle of the fourth inning.

“I’m definitely frustrated,” he said on Sunday. “I want to be out there. I just felt a little something in my last start, obviously came out of the game, got it looked at. There's a little inflammation in there, so the goal is to get that knocked out here in the next few days and resume throwing. I’m staying optimistic about it. I didn't want to go out there and keep pushing it and putting the bullpen in a bad spot and the team in a bad spot, so the plan is to get that [inflammation] out of there and go from there.”

deGrom has not shied away from saying that his goal is to make 30 starts per season in every year of his five-year contract with the Rangers. But the right-hander, a two-time National League Cy Young Award winner and four-time All-Star with the Mets, has not made more than 15 starts in a season since 2019.

deGrom has endured multiple IL stints over that time. In 2020, he missed time with minor back and arm troubles, and right elbow inflammation knocked him out for the entire second half of the ‘21 season. A stress reaction in his right scapula sidelined him in ‘22.

This is another bump in the road for a player who has already missed a lot of time entering this season.

“It was frustrating,” deGrom repeated. “I want to be out there. It was just some discomfort. It was not crazy, but it was just there and lingering so I looked in the dugout and was like, ‘Hey, it's not feeling right.’ So that's the goal: To get that feeling right.

“The goal is to not go on the IL. Again, the goal is to make 30-plus starts and help put this team in a position to win. It's disappointing to not be able to do that right now, but I’m staying optimistic about it. Everything structurally looks fine, so we want to get a little bit of that swelling out of there and pick it up from there.”

deGrom, the Rangers’ coaching staff and the training staff have been cautious all year long, hoping to keep the 34-year-old healthy for as long as possible. But now, the hope is that it’s a short-term trip to the IL, instead of one that would keep deGrom sidelined for months.

And he’ll clearly be missed, however long it ends up being. In 30 1/3 innings this season, deGrom has a 2.67 ERA and 45 strikeouts. Texas is undefeated in his six starts.

“Like I said, we want to be out there competing,” deGrom said. “Nobody wants this. You don't wish this on anybody. Everybody wants to go out there and play and stay healthy. But that's part of this game, I know. It's the unfortunate part of it. I want to be out there. It's just this is a smart move right now. So hopefully we’ll knock it out here in the next few days and pick up throwing again.”