JACOB DEGROM JOINS THE RANGERS

The happiest time of the baseball year for all 30 teams and their fans is here--spring training and the excitement leading up to Opening Day.

Every team is undefeated. Hopes for 2023 are running high. Last season’s contenders are eager to do it again, and even the teams not expected to contend are ready to, as the players say, surprise some people.

The Rangers and their fans, though, have been riding high since early December, and the cause for all the excitement boils down to one player.

Jacob deGrom is the best pitcher in the world, and the righthander plays for the Rangers. He signed a five-year, $185 million contract on December 2, and two more free agent starting pitchers joined him in the rotation later in the month.

A team known throughout its history as an offensive-first club is now armed to win with pitching, and the Rangers believe their staff is going to take them to the postseason perhaps as soon as this season.

DeGrom is the guy at the top. That kind of role and the pressure that comes with it aren’t anything new for the two-time National League Cy Young winner.

“As far as pressure, my goal always when I take the mound is to go out there and try to put up zeros,” deGrom said. “That is what I try to do. So far as taking off or putting on pressure, it’s a plus that there’s more starting pitching. It’s definitely a plus. But I still take the field the same exact way every time, and that’s to go out there and try to put up zeros and give us the best chance to win.”

He did that for the New York Mets from 2014 to 2022, posting a 2.52 ERA and striking out 1,607 batters in 1,326.0 innings. He won back-to-back Cy Young awards in 2018 (with a 1.70 ERA) and 2019 (255 strikeouts in 204.0 innings) and finished third in the voting in 2020.

That was his last healthy season, though, and it was the 60-game COVID season. He pitched only 68.0 innings, followed by 92.0 in 2021 and 64.1 in 2022.

There is a concern about his durability.

The Rangers, though, liked how he finished last season, had no issues with his physical exam before the contract was signed, and believe his work ethic will allow him to stay healthy.

The injury that slowed him last season was a stress fracture in his shoulder blade. He said it was a freak injury and therefore isn’t a worry going forward.

He’s not the only starter with a potential innings shortfall.

Outside of 2022 Rangers Pitcher of the Year Martin Perez and including RHP Jake Odorizzi, acquired in a November trade with the Atlanta Braves, every starter dealt with an injury last season.

“We’re very comfortable in terms of the medicals,” Rangers

EVP and General Manager Chris Young said. “There’s a lot of factors that go into this. We did a ton of background information on these players. It’s really understanding the person, understanding their work ethic, the way they compete, understanding how their body moves.”

DeGrom, who turns 35 on June 19, threw his first bullpen session for new pitching coach Mike Maddux on January 28, just before the Globe Life Field doors opened for Fan Fest. He said then that he was throwing in the 90s for his fourth bullpen session of the offseason.

That’s around 90 percent effort, considering his maximum fastball velocity last season was 101.4 mph. His average fastball velocity last season was 98.9 mph — down 0.2 mph from 2021.

He threw 33 pitches above 100 mph during one start in 2021.

His four-seam fastball-slider combination stumps hitters. They hit only .208 against the fastball and .139 against the slider, which averaged 92.6 mph. Hitters had more success (.250) against a changeup he threw at an average velocity of 92 mph.

“He’s definitely the guy, right?” shortstop Corey Seager said. “When you’ve got the five guys that we have — six guys, seven guys, really — that can go out there and start for us now, it’s that much more comforting. There’s no excuses now.”

New manager Bruce Bochy believes that pitching wins championships, and he would know. He won three World Series with the San Francisco Giants, who at various times in their championship years of 2010, 2012 and 2014 had rotations that included Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Tim Hudson, Barry Zito, Jake Peavy and postseason legend Madison Bumgarner.

DeGrom is of the same mindset. He’s at the top of the rotation that the Rangers believe will snap a streak of six straight losing seasons and take them back to the postseason for the first time since 2016.

The additions of LHP Andrew Heaney and RHP Nathan Eovadi confirmed what Young and deGrom discussed before he signed. More pitching help was coming to help accelerate the Rangers’ rebuild.

“I’m a firm believer in pitching wins championships, and they went out and added pitching,” deGrom said. “Now, we’ve got to go out there and play still.”

The Rangers open the 2023 season March 30 against the Philadelphia Phillies, the reigning National League champions and a team deGrom knows well from his time in the NL East. He might be the Opening Day starter, though Perez is deserving of the honor after his terrific 2022 campaign.

But no matter who’s on the mound that day at Globe Life Field, it will be a different Rangers team than in the recent past and, really, in the history of the franchise.

The Rangers are going to pitch themselves into contention, and deGrom is the primary reason for all the hope and the uptick in excitement over the offseason and into this spring.

“That was my first time experiencing free agency, so there’s a lot of emotions and stuff that go into it,” deGrom said. “You don’t know where you’re going. You kind of feel like the new kid at school. Just the interactions with everybody so far, it’s been great. Everybody’s been very welcoming.

“We’re excited to be here. Hearing CY and then reaching out right away and telling me that I was a priority here was something that meant a lot to me. And that definitely played a lot in this decision to be here and try to win a World Series for the Rangers.”

As the Texas Rangers entered the off-season following a 68-94 record in 2022, Chris Young had one major objective to improve the club.

A successful big league starting pitcher over 14 seasons, the Rangers’ General Manager knew that a strong and deep rotation was necessary for the club to contend in one of MLB’s strongest divisions, the American League West. The 2022 Rangers featured just one pitcher with more than seven wins (12-Martin Perez) and two with more than 140.0 innings (196.1—Perez; 153.1—Dane Dunning).

While Texas is excited about its pitching prospects in the minor leagues, Young knew that those youngsters would likely need more time to develop before becoming major contributors at the big league level.

Four months later, Young’s objective is complete as the Rangers enter 2023 with as talented and deep a rotation as any team in the Majors.

While the biggest acquisition was right-hander Jacob deGrom, who signed as a free agent on December 2, Young also added three other established big league starters and re-signed the lefty Perez, the Rangers’ 2022 Pitcher of the Year, to a one-year contract. Righthander Jon Gray, who signed a four-year deal with Texas prior to the 2022 season, also returns after being limited to 24 starts and 127.1 innings a year ago.

Here’s a look at the other new additions to the Rangers’ 2023 starting staff:

During MLB General Managers meetings on November 9, Young acquired