Bruce Bochy, Jacob deGrom All-Star Game Moment

New Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy has managed Jacob deGrom before, albeit for just one inning.

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy can’t wait to see the team’s prized free-agent pitcher, Jacob deGrom take his first pitches in an actual Spring Training game.

For now, Bochy has his memories to lean on.

Well, one in particular, that gives him a window into deGrom’s competitiveness and personality.

“Well, I’ll take you back to 2015 and Cincinnati at the All-Star Game,” Bochy said recently. “He was getting a lot of attention and he came  in and he struck out the side on 10 pitches. That was the most impressive thing in that All-Star Game.”

Bochy was the National League manager after leading the San Francisco Giants to a third World Series title in five years. The American League won 6-3.

deGrom was in his second Major League season in 2015 and making his first All-Star Game appearance at age 27. He went 14-8 with a 2.54 ERA that season and finished seventh in Cy Young voting. He won the Cy Young in 2018 and 2019.

He was also coming off a Rookie of the Year season in 2014.

While Bochy remembers his Giants squaring off plenty with the New York Mets, deGrom’s former team, that night in Cincinnati stood out because of the dominance of deGrom’s performance, along with his reaction to it.

“He walked off the mound like, hey, no big deal,” Bochy said. “He’s a very humble guy. But he did have a big smile when he came into the dugout. I still remember (Dave) Righetti (Bochy’s former pitching coach in San Francisco) going, ‘That’s it.’ I go, ‘That’s it? I think I can get two more out of him.’”

deGrom is a few days away from making his spring debut after a short delay at the start of spring training due to tightness on his left side. He threw his second bullpen session Sunday and needs to pitch at least one batting practice session before the Rangers consider putting him in a spring game.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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