SURPRISE, Ariz. — The Rangers reached the mid-point of spring training on Wednesday. And Jacob deGrom seemed to “turn a corner,” manager Bruce Bochy said.
He took it at 100 mph.
During a 35-pitch, 2-inning live batting practice session, deGrom sat at 98-99 mph with his fastball and hit 100 on his final pitch of the first inning to Yoshi Tsutsugo. He threw all his pitches and was pleased with a 90 mph change-up, as well as the fastball.
“It was special,” said Rangers catcher Jonah Heim, who was one of the five hitters to face him. “There’s a reason we signed Jacob deGrom. His fastball is just different. That’s the only way I can describe it. It’s got extra life. If I’d have swung at the first two pitches, I feel like I would have been six hours late on them both. It’s really hard to put into words how to describe it. It’s just different.”
DeGrom has thrown fairly regularly since starting a week behind the other pitchers, but this was the most intense session to date.
Bochy said before the session that deGrom felt like he had turned a corner in his preparation. The manager also said a game situation is “possible” for deGrom’s next step. Bochy theorized deGrom might have time to get three starts in during the remainder of spring training. That would probably have him at about 60-75 pitches going into the season.
The Rangers are taking the steps slowly and cautiously, but Wednesday morning certainly felt a little different for those on the backfield watching deGrom.
“It’s pretty unbelievable,” Heim said after musing with Josh Smith and Sandy León about the pitcher. “It gets me very excited to start to throw some fingers down for him. It’s been an exciting day for the boys.”
