After latest rehab start, deGrom intent to pitch in Majors in '24

ROUND ROCK, Texas -- If you ask Jacob deGrom, he needs to get back to the big league mound this year. He made those feelings clear following his latest rehab outing in which he tossed two perfect innings for Triple-A Round Rock.

Despite the Rangers’ place in the standings and the likelihood of another postseason run slipping away by the day, deGrom -- who is coming off his second Tommy John surgery -- wants to be out there no matter what.

“You go through this process and I was fortunate enough to feel pretty good throughout the whole thing and not have any setbacks, I think it'd be more peace of mind to get out there, make a few starts, hopefully every fifth day, and then you can treat it a little bit more like a normal offseason,” deGrom said. “I feel like if I don't get out there, I’m almost gonna feel like I’m in rehab mode for almost two years, whereas if I get out there and pitch and am able to do it and recover well, then I can prepare for the next season like I normally do.”

Following last week’s return to game action, deGrom made his second rehab appearance on Tuesday with Round Rock. Working back from reconstructive surgery on his right UCL in June 2023, the righty threw 29 pitches (21 strikes) over two innings in his first outing with Double-A Frisco on Thursday, giving up a run on two hits alongside three strikeouts.

On Oklahoma City’s hardest-hit ball of the night, a 100.6 mph fly ball off the bat of first baseman Ryan Ward in the top of the second, deGrom received an assist from center fielder Kellen Strahm, who covered 93 feet to rob Ward of a potential extra-base hit in right-center.

deGrom threw 14 four-seamers, with his hardest topping out at 99.5 mph, along with six sliders and four changeups.

“It was definitely better than my first one,” he said. “I felt like I was throwing the ball down really well, which is what I've been trying to do. I think that's probably the last thing to come, just being able to locate the ball down on the glove side. That's mainly how I pitched tonight. I felt really good doing that. I really had one bad slider that they hit to the wall, but everything else, it felt like it was really good.”

The Rangers had planned for the 36-year-old to throw a maximum of two innings or 40 pitches on Tuesday; after needing just 24 pitches to get through two, deGrom completed his work for the evening in the bullpen.

He’s scheduled to make two more rehab starts before making his way back to Arlington, though it could be sooner if the Rangers feel he’s built up enough.

“I’m thankful every day I can put this uniform on,” deGrom said. “You miss a year-plus, so getting back out there and competing that’s what we want to do. It's definitely exciting … I think it'll probably be a couple more though. I don't want to put us in a bad spot where the bullpen is covering a bunch of innings. So I want to try to build up. Those guys, they've done a lot, so try not to have them cover too many innings.”