SURPRISE, Ariz. -- What does a two-time Cy Young Award winner like Jacob deGrom get out of facing a group of Cleveland Minor Leaguers on March 14, less than two weeks before Opening Day?

“I just try to execute pitches,” deGrom said on Friday. “They were swinging at everything, so anything close was getting swung at. I was just trying to execute, whether they swung at it or not. There were some like ‘Hey, probably in a normal game, that's taken.’ So execution was the main thing.”

deGrom ended up starting Friday’s Minor League game on the backfields in Surprise after he was scratched from his Cactus League start on Thursday against the Giants due to a stomach bug.

The Minor Leaguers had no chance. deGrom threw three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk with two strikeouts. He threw 37 pitches, 29 of which were strikes. He had eight first-pitch strikes to the 11 batters he faced.

“Actually, I felt like it helped my curveball a little bit, because I was able to mix that in,” deGrom said of Cleveland’s free-swinging at-bats. “There were a couple times where I started it with a ball and came back with a strike. I think that helped. The slider was good, the fastball was good, everything was good. So I feel good, and that was the main thing.”

deGrom reiterated his desire to manage his effort this season and pitch smarter instead of harder as he hopes to return to Cy Young form. He wants to trust that his stuff will play even if it’s not always 100 percent max effort.

“I probably could have let it go a little bit more, but like when I look back at the two best years of my career, and I didn't throw 100 mph,” deGrom said. “I'd rather stick at 97 where I want it located than 100 that leaks back over the plate a little bit. It's pitching smarter. Then if you have that and then now I’ve got two strikes, let me stand on this one [at 100].

“It's almost like another pitch. So I think it is a combination of things based on health and being smarter. Like, ‘Hey, sit at this speed and use [the 100+ mph fastball] when you need to, back off when you need to, and just kind of see how the game is going.’”

deGrom has made just one Cactus League start this spring, when he delivered two perfect innings against the Royals, striking out a pair of big leaguers in Kyle Isbel and Bobby Witt Jr., as well as outfielder Tyler Gentry on March 8.

The Rangers have been intentionally slow playing deGrom this spring in order to keep him healthy across a full regular season and a hopeful return to the postseason.

If deGrom looks like he did in his one Cactus League appearance come Opening Day, the Rangers will be in a good place.

“I think y’all summed it up,” Nathan Eovaldi told the media after deGrom’s first Cactus League start. “He looked like Jacob deGrom. He was nervous, but he got that first one out of the way. That's what he does, right? It's exciting to go out there and watch him. Everybody's on the edge of their seat and getting [ready] to watch it. It's exciting. You're expecting him to punch out the side every time he's out there. The swings and misses that he's able to get, he just gets big league hitters looking very uncomfortable up there in the box.”

The chatter all camp has been about how deGrom is the best pitcher in the world when he’s healthy. He hasn’t been healthy for a full season in nearly six years.

deGrom has not pitched a full Major League season since 2019, when he won his second straight NL Cy Young Award. From 2018-21, he posted a 1.94 ERA. He’s been the best pitcher of the generation and everybody in the Rangers clubhouse is OK reminding you of that.

“He just makes the game look really easy,” Cody Bradford said at the start of camp. “I think there's a misconception that guys who can throw really, really hard don't necessarily know where it's going, but deGrom is one of those guys that always knows where the ball is going, and he can put it where he wants it. And I think that's really special.”