Rangers starter Jacob deGrom has a glittering résumé that only lacks a World Series title

Boston Globe

10-05-2025

'It's the biggest thing for me,' the Rangers righthander said during a visit to Fenway Park last week. 'The only goal now is for the team to win. The rest doesn't matter, it's just getting back to the Series.'
deGrom took the loss in Game 2 of the 2015 Series, giving up four runs over five innings against the Royals. He was lined up to start Game 6 but the Mets were eliminated in Game 5.
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deGrom was a member of the 2023 Rangers but started only six games before undergoing Tommy John surgery.
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'Being there in '23 and watching what the team was able to do was awesome,' he said. 'Seeing how much fun that was, it makes you want to be a part of it.
'The Cy Youngs, those are personal accomplishments and personal goals. It's all great, but the ultimate goal is the World Series.'
deGrom was on a Hall of Fame path before injuries altered his career. He made only 35 starts from 2021-24 because of forearm, shoulder, and elbow issues.
He still became the quickest pitcher to reach 1,700 strikeouts, hitting the mark in 225 games. It took
Randy Johnson
230 and
Nolan Ryan
245.
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deGrom was a ninth-round pick in the 2010 draft and made his debut in 2014 at Citi Field in a Subway Series game against the Yankees.
The second batter he faced was
Derek Jeter
.
'All I remember is Jeter stepping into the box and in my mind thinking, 'Everything away. Make sure you don't hit him. He's retiring, don't be the dummy who breaks his hand or something and be forever hated in New York,'' deGrom said.
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Jeter grounded to shortstop, lined into a double play, and grounded out facing deGrom. The Yankees won the game, 1-0.
'I was like, 'Holy smokes, that's Derek Jeter.' I actually got on base and talked to him for a minute at second. That was a really cool experience,' deGrom said.
deGrom's career has coincided with baseball's analytics revolution. He's not a convert, although he sees the value of trying to make every pitch look the same coming out of his hand.
'In the bullpen you work on things but no matter what the numbers say you have to make mid-game adjustments,' he said. 'You see how hitters will attack you and then you come up with a different game plan.
'You can take all the information into the game you want but sometimes you need to take an old-school approach and just see what the hitter wants to do.'
deGrom doesn't mind the pitch clock. But he would like to see the pitcher get one timeout per inning. He remembers seeing former Rangers teammate
Martín Pérez
cover first base on two batters in a row then have to get right back on the mound.
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'Clock's rolling, either get up there and throw a pitch or they'll call a ball,' he said. 'I think we should have the ability to step off when it's necessary.
'The pitch clock has been good for speeding up the game but it can be adjusted.'
deGrom is nine months older than
Chris Sale
. Both were from small towns in central Florida and faced each other in college.
'I didn't play travel ball or AAU, any of that kind of stuff,' deGrom said. 'I just played for the teams where I lived. I didn't know Chris then.'
DeLeon Springs, where deGrom is from, is a speck on the map with a population of 2,784. He was noticed by the coaches from nearby Stetson University.
He signed there to play shortstop and didn't pitch until he was a junior. deGrom's only homer for Stetson was off Sale in 2010 in a conference tournament game in Nashville.
Before the universal DH came in, deGrom hit .204 with 12 extra-base hits — three of them homers — and 29 RBIs in 383 at-bats.
deGrom's only start at Fenway Park was late in the 2018 season. He allowed three runs and struck out 12 over seven innings.
'A special place,' he said. 'I remember
Brock Holt
homered off me. But it was great being able to pitch here. All the history, it was a really, really cool experience.'
The Rangers aren't due back to Fenway until 2026, unless they meet the Sox in the postseason.
'I'll take it,' deGrom said. 'That would be a lot of fun.'
Jacob deGrom was a member of the 2023 Series champion Rangers but started only six games before undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Julio Cortez/Associated Press
Devers drama
Red Sox at odds with their DH
For a team that once employed
Manny Ramirez
, the
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Devers should be annoyed that the Red Sox have handled his situation poorly for four-plus months.
The team was wrong not being upfront about the possibility of
Devers was taking grounders at third base when spring training opened, a process that continued after Bregman signed.
The team knew then there was no adequate backup at first base. Why not introduce Devers to the position at that time, with no pressure to perform?
A few days into the season, a question was asked about who would back up Bregman. That's when
Alex Cora
Then
Triston Casas
was
Craig Breslow
It created a rift between the team and its highest-paid player.
It's enough of a mess that
John Henry
, who also owns the Globe,
Now it's Devers who is wrong. He should have thanked Henry for interceding and started taking a few grounders. Instead we were told the sides would continue to talk.
These aren't the Panmunjom peace talks. Devers is an employee, something his agents may want to mention to him. Say what you need to say then go take grounders at first.
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The Sox created a bit of monster when they
He accepted the kind of contract that makes you the face of the team and Devers avoids that role as often as possible.
David Ortiz
had occasional issues with authority. But when the Sox lost a few in a row, he was at his locker to speak for the team.
This seems sure to end badly. Devers will get booed during the next homestand and he'll withdraw even more. He's signed through 2033 but now the clock is ticking toward some kind of rancorous breakup.
Even if Cora hammers out some kind of resolution and Devers plays first, nobody will come away looking good.
Wait until after the season when Bregman opts out and the Sox ask Devers to go back to third.
The Red Sox have mishandled the Rafael Devers situation for months.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
A few other observations on the Red Sox:
▪ With 45 stolen bases in their first 39 games, the Sox are on pace to have 187 this season. They have not done that since the 1913 Sox swiped 189.
The modern-day team record of 144 was set last season.
▪
Aroldis Chapman's
103.8-m.p.h. sinker against the Rangers on Wednesday night was the fastest pitch of the season in the majors and the fastest recorded pitch in Sox history.
Chapman ended the game by striking out
Blaine Crim
on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. Six of those pitches were between 100.4-103.8 m.p.h.
The two outliers were splitters that came in at 94.6 and 93.5.
'Dude's a beast,' first baseman
Romy Gonzalez
said. 'That was amazing.'
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Chapman was unimpressed. He threw 105.8 in 2010, after all. 'It was pretty good,' he said.
▪ The Sox clubhouse has three rows of thin shelves that hold photos from each victory this season. Cora tried that motivational tactic in 2018, hanging the photos in his office.
▪ The Yankees are happy with their end of the
Carlos Narváez
trade. They acquired 21-year-old righthander
Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz
in the deal.
He's 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA through five starts for High A Hudson Valley. He's struck out 35 over 28 innings.
Rodriguez-Cruz has hit 98 m.p.h. with his fastball while changing his repertoire to include more two-seamers, sweepers, and splitters.
Aroldis Chapman's 103.8-m.p.h. sinker against the Rangers Wednesday night was the fastest pitch of the season in the majors and the fastest recorded pitch in Sox history.
David Richard/Associated Press
Etc.
White Sox feeling blessed
The White Sox finally caught a break.
Robert Francis
Prevost
was born in Chicago and raised in Dolton, a suburb that borders the South Side. He frequently attended White Sox games with his family while growing up.
The Cubs tried to claim the new Pope after he was elected on Thursday but his brother shot that down.
'They had it wrong,'
John
Prevost
said. 'He's been a White Sox fan as long as I've known him.'
Well, would you look at that... Congratulations to Chicago's own Pope Leo XIV
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox)
Then
The White Sox, who could use all the help from above they can get, were quick to issue a statement.
'Family always knows best, and it sounds like Pope Leo XIV's lifelong fandom falls a little closer to 35th and Shields,' it said.
'Some things are bigger than baseball, and in this case, we're glad to have a White Sox fan represented at the Vatican.'
The White Sox said a team jersey and cap were on their way to Rome.
The White Sox honored Pope Leo XIV on Friday.
David Banks/Associated Press
Extra bases
When the
Bob Nutting
was quoted in the team release saying, 'We need to act with a sense of urgency and take the steps necessary to fix this now to get back on track as a team and organization.' Maybe that should start from the top. The biggest offseason addition to the roster was lefthander
Andrew Heaney
for one year and $5.25 million. The largest free agent contract in team history was three years and $39 million for lefty
Francisco Liriano
before the 2015 season … The Mets were badly damaged with the loss of lefthanded reliever
A.J. Minter
for the remainder of the season because of a lat tear. Minter was dominant in 13 outings, handling righthanded hitters even better than lefties. The team was 11-2 when he pitched. The only lefthander in the bullpen now is
Génesis Cabrera
… Baltimore gave
Charlie Morton
another start Wednesday and he took a loss against the Twins to fall to 0-7. The Orioles won't want to eat the remainder of his $15 million contract but there may not be a choice … Per the Elias Sports Bureau,
Elly De La Cruz
is the first player with 115 extra-base hits and 115 stolen bases in fewer than 300 career games … The revival of
Javier Báez's
career is one of the unexpected stories of the season. He hit .317 with an .835 OPS through 30 games. Báez was 11 of 31 with six extra-base hits and 12 RBIs over seven games during Detroit's most recent road trip. Báez had a .610 OPS in his first three seasons with the Tigers after agreeing to a six-year, $140 million contract. A shift to center field — along with games at third base and shortstop — has proved revitalizing … The Giants and Cardinals played at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala., last June. This year, the East-West Classic will be at the historic ballpark on June 19. The game is a tribute to the Negro League All-Star Games played from 1933-62. It was played at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y., last season. The rosters will include new Hall of Famer
CC Sabathia
and former Red Sox players
Mike Cameron
,
Jake Peavy
, and
Chris Young
… The Athletics aren't expected to move to Las Vegas until the 2028 season. But the team arranged for a 15-game package of games to be shown on KVVU Fox 5 in Las Vegas. It includes the three-game series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park from Sept. 16-18 …
Devin Williams
allowed 13 earned runs over his first 11⅔ innings for the Yankees. He allowed 13 earned runs over 80⅓ innings for the Brewers from 2023-24 …
Jose Altuve
so far grades out as the worst left fielder in baseball. He also asked to be moved out of the leadoff spot because it was too far to jog in from left field to the dugout to get ready for his at-bat. Discounting 2020, Altuve was worth an average of 4.3 bWAR from 2012-24. He's at negative-0.5 this season and will make $92 million from 2026-29 … The Rockies went into the weekend 6-31 after being swept by the Tigers at home in a doubleheader on Thursday, 10-2 and 11-1. They had nine hits in the two games as their run differential fell to minus-109. The Rockies are on their way to a third consecutive 100-loss season. No team has done that since the Astros from 2011-13, which was on purpose and led to a long run of success. The Rockies don't seem to have a plan beyond continuing to mismanage the team while drawing 2.5 million a year because there's not another team within 850 miles … Happy birthday to
Jeff Sellers
, who is 61. The righthander from California pitched for the Red Sox from 1985-88, going 13-22 with a 4.97 ERA. Sellers was drafted in 1982 out of high school and made his way to the majors without appearing in Triple A. At 21, he made his debut on Sept 15, 1985 at Milwaukee and allowed one earned run over 6⅓ innings to get the win. 'Believe me, it was a pleasure to watch the pitching today,' manager
John McNamara
said. 'The kid went out and pitched very well.' Sellers opened 1986 in the minors but returned to the Sox in June. He was traded to the Reds after the 1988 season, part of the deal that brought
Nick Esasky
to Boston. But Sellers never appeared in the majors again because of injuries and eventually returned to California to raise his family. His son,
Justin
, was an infielder who appeared in 99 games for the Dodgers and Indians from 2011-14.
Jose Altuve asked to be moved out of the leadoff spot because it was too far to jog in from left field to the dugout to get ready for his at-bat.
John Fisher/Getty
Peter Abraham can be reached at