Texas Rangers ace Jacob deGrom exited his start on Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels after just two innings due to discomfort in his triceps. DeGrom is scheduled for testing on Friday, with the Rangers facing significant concern about the health of their top pitcher.
DeGrom, 38, stated he felt tightness in his triceps during the second inning. While he believed he could have continued pitching, the team opted not to risk further injury. "I wasn’t going to risk it once I heard the triceps," Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. "Hopefully, it’s nothing huge, but we’ll know more tomorrow."
The right-hander threw 32 pitches in the second inning, during which he allowed two runs on five hits. This outing resulted in his third loss of the season. DeGrom also recently dealt with a hip/glute injury, and his early exit left him two strikeouts shy of reaching 2,000 for his career.
The Rangers, currently trailing the Houston Astros by two games in the AL West and a half-game behind the Detroit Tigers for the final AL wild-card spot, are already navigating a depleted rotation. Veteran pitcher Nathan Eovaldi was placed on the injured list on Monday with right elbow inflammation, and Jack Leiter remains sidelined. The potential loss of deGrom, even for a short period, could significantly impact the team's postseason hopes.
Texas has lost its last three games, all against the Angels, and has a 5-10 record over its last 15 contests, a stretch that saw them relinquish their division lead and fall out of a playoff position. "Obviously, you don’t want to hear anything arm-related," Schumaker added, per ESPN. "You pull a guy out in the second inning, it’s concerning. But we’ll figure it out when he gets some imaging. We won’t know until they get in there."
DeGrom expressed cautious optimism after the game, saying, "I’m not too concerned. Hopefully, I’ll make my next (start), we’ll see. There in the second it was tight and just didn’t want to loosen up… I haven’t really had that before."