Rangers’ Jacob deGrom feels better, expects to make next start

Texas Rangers ace Jacob deGrom said Tuesday the soreness in his right wrist that ended his start Monday after four innings is feeling better and he expects to make his next start.

“I actually feel better today than I did yesterday,” deGrom told reporters, according to the Dallas Morning News. “So that’s a good sign. We did some stuff in the training room and everything feels good. So I fully anticipate making my next start.”

He is next scheduled to pitch Sunday against the Oakland Athletics.

Manager Bruce Bochy said that deGrom will play catch on Wednesday “and we’ll check out how his wrist feels.”

“We don’t know, exactly how he’s going to feel tomorrow, but right now it’s all positive and he’s positive on where he’s at with that arm. That’s good news. I think we’re planning right now that we have a possibility of making the next start. But we will evaluate the next couple of days,” he said, according to the Dallas Morning News.

DeGrom pitched four hitless innings before departing Monday night against the Kansas City Royals, striking out five and walking one while throwing 39 of his 58 pitches for strikes. Dane Dunning replaced him, picking up the win after throwing 4⅓ innings of one-hit ball in Texas’ 4-0 victory.

DeGrom is 1-0 with a 3.48 ERA this season.

DeGrom signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the Rangers this offseason after a decorated tenure with the Mets. Injuries, though, have been a problem for the 34-year-old. He missed the first four months of last season with a stress reaction in his shoulder, and injuries had limited him to 224⅓ innings over the past three seasons entering 2023.

He also had a minor setback at the start of the spring after feeling some tightness on his left side.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.