SURPRISE, Ariz. – Jacob deGrom did not pitch Thursday. He did not play catch. He did not field ground balls. He did not cover any bases.
He did, however, speak. With tones of self-awareness.
His long list of injuries is a story. That’s not going away anytime soon.
“After what I’ve dealt with the last couple of years, the last thing you wanted was to come and say ‘Hey, my left side is a little sore.’ ” he said before the Rangers’ second deGrom-less workout of spring. “I felt when I flew in [Tuesday] it was fine, just a little stiff feeling. And then after relaying that message, they just said they wanted to be smart about this and make sure it’s gone before we push forward.”
He continued. He’d already thrown six bullpens this winter, more than usual. He felt ahead of schedule. When he did have the stiffness, it eased up as he got to working out. The training staff and management wanted to slow play the situation. Whatever made the Rangers feel comfortable, he’d abide. After all, they plunked down $185 million on him.
Also: It felt better on Thursday than it had Wednesday. He said he “didn’t even feel it.” The Rangers will re-evaluate on Friday. He very possibly could join the group of starters for their next bullpen session Saturday.
“A couple of days on the front end will pay off on the back end,” pitching coach Mike Maddux said. “We just want guys to go at a smart pace. We are not going to push guys and hurt them.”
So: All good here, yeah? Nothing to see here, right? Move along.
Yeah, sure.
Not when it’s deGrom, a $185 million free agent contract and, perhaps most of all a guy who left New York for greener, calmer pastures. It will cease to be a story when you pry it from the cold, dead hands of the tabloids.
Just consider this headline from the New York Post Thursday: “Nolan Ryan-esque Justin Verlander is anti-Jacob deGrom.” This from the same place that once gave us this glorious story tag: “Headless body found in topless bar.”
A column from 2,300 miles away raving about Verlander’s first workout with the Mets as deGrom’s replacement read as much like invective over one’s departure as it did heralding the other’s arrival.
DeGrom may throw a ball “better than anyone ever has,” but is also a “part-time pitcher,” it said. He’s a “comet.” A “flash and then he’s gone.” The difference between deGrom’s contract and Verlander’s was “the best $100 million Mets owner Steve Cohen ever saved.” The column was not authored by Cohen, at least not officially.
Can you imagine if deGrom was still a Met and missed the first workout?
“Uh, I don’t really know,” he said after an awkward chuckle when presented with that very query. “That’s a tough question. But this was part of our talk, too. In season, I would never even have said anything about this. That’s just how careful we’re being with it.”
Maybe he was a comet in New York, but more in this sense: He’s the kind of phenomenon that comes around once in a lifetime. His two Cy Young Awards with the Mets give him one more than Dwight Gooden earned and one fewer than the patron saint of all things in Mets-dom: Tom Seaver.
Yes, the last two years were filled with injuries, but let’s not ignore facts either. From 2015, his first full year in the majors, through the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, deGrom ranked third in the majors in innings pitched behind models of durability Max Scherzer and Zack Greinke. He had the second-highest WAR, according to baseball-reference.com, behind Scherzer. In that span, he missed a total of 21 days while on the IL, really the equivalent of two starts.
Most people would call that “a workhorse,” but in truth, he was more like a thoroughbred. And a Triple Crown winner, at that.
Yes, deGrom has a significant injury history. Yes, it’s an issue, especially because of how good he is when on the mound. No, questions about his durability won’t end when he throws his first bullpen session of the spring. Nor when he makes his first of the season. Probably not anytime in 2023.
Yes, Rangers history is loaded with examples of perceived minor spring issues for pitchers that quickly spiraled into something much bigger. The spring of 2015 leaps to mind. That’s when Yu Darvish left his first spring start as a merely “precautionary” measure. A week later, he was having Tommy John surgery. There are plenty of others. It’s just the most recent high-profile case.
So, the Rangers will deal with this. So will deGrom. It comes with the territory.
But he came to Texas intent to win. And that’s where his eyes will remain focused.
“I feel very optimistic about this team,” he said. “I think we can do something special. That’s the goal: To go out and win as many baseball games as we can. It’s not to sit here and talk about it. Let’s go do it. Let’s get ready to play.”
