SURPRISE, Ariz. -- After a weeklong delay, Rangers ace Jacob deGrom is finally throwing off the mound.

deGrom arrived in Arizona with left side tightness that has limited him since the start of camp. deGrom threw his first bullpen of Spring Training on Thursday, tossing about 22 pitches -- all fastballs -- after a week of playing catch normally.

When asked what percentage of effort he put into those pitches, deGrom simply said it was “nice and easy.”

“I felt really good,” deGrom added. “The past few days it felt really good and felt back to normal. So we just took four days off without throwing before I got back on the mound. It was a small step, but a step in the right direction. The plan moving forward is to keep progressing and build up pitch count and get in some games.

“Like I said, the last thing you want to do is come in and say your left side is a little sore, but we were cautious with it. Looking at it now, I think that was the right step," he added. "We’ve still got time to build up and get ready.”

deGrom said he threw five or six bullpen sessions before he arrived in Arizona, which already put him ahead of his typical preseason schedule. Even with the shutdown, he never fell behind the rest of the Rangers’ starters. 

According to pitching coach Mike Maddux, deGrom’s delay ended up with him missing two sessions and one live batting practice. He added that it would be no problem for deGrom to get caught back up and be at full strength by Opening Day. 

deGrom said that he’s never had an issue with his left side before. In fact, the only injury he ever had to that general area was in 2018, when he felt soreness in his right side from swinging the bat while with the Mets in the National League.

Even so, deGrom agreed with the Rangers’ cautious approach to the discomfort, and is happy to finally be back on the mound preparing for his first season with his new club.

“I felt like my arm was in a good spot,” deGrom said of coming into camp. “And that's why talking to the training staff and Mike, and taking the four days [off], we didn't think it was that big of a deal. We'll still have time to ramp up and where I was at coming in arm-wise, we felt like we were in a good spot.” 

World Baseball Classic preparations
During Thursday’s media availability, Maddux also addressed the throwing schedules for the Rangers’ two Classic participants. Starter Martín Pérez will be participating for Team Venezuela, while reliever Jose Leclerc will pitch for the Dominican Republic.

Pérez, in particular, was put on a schedule back in January so that he would be one start ahead of all of the Rangers’ other starting pitchers. 

“We're going to try to get [Pérez] up to that pitch count that they will look for him to do in the first round of the WBC,” Maddux said. “I think the maximum is 65; I got it in my book. We’ll definitely have him at 45 to 50 pitches, maybe more, so that when he steps on the bump, he's already done it and we're not building up to it. He's already been there. And then Leclerc will get like four touches before he goes to the WBC.”