Why Did Bruce Bochy Tab Jacob deGrom for Texas Rangers Opening Day?

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy picked Jacob deGrom to start the season opener against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy made Jacob deGrom starting Opening Day against the Philadelphia Phillies sound like a no-brainer.

And, in many ways, it is.

“You’re talking about one of the elite pitchers in the game,” Bochy said Friday. “It’s an honor to announce this. I know it’s an honor for him. You know how humble he is. So he’s scheduled to go Opening Day.

“You know, early we had to hold him back a little bit, but we think he’s good to go. We have the day off after Opening Day, so we know we can cover him. We’re not looking for him to take us real deep in the game or anything. This just makes all the sense in the world to us.”

Major League Baseball asked all teams to announce their Opening Day starters on Friday to generate some buzz. Pairing deGrom, a two-time Cy Young winner against Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola — fourth in National League Cy Young voting last season — will certainly do that.

Bochy did say that there was some consideration of starting Martín Pérez, a nod to being the staff's ace last season and winning a team-high 12 games. But he’ll start the third game Sunday, a prime-time affair with the Phillies on ESPN.

deGrom lined up perfectly for Thursday at Globe Life Field. He’ll pitch in the final spring game in Surprise on Saturday and have the traditional five days’ rest before squaring off against Nola and the Phillies. He’ll likely have six days off heading into what would likely be his second start against the Baltimore Orioles on April 5.

Plus, the Rangers did make that five-year, $185 million investment in deGrom to be the franchise's new ace.

Bochy didn’t commit to a pitch count for Opening Day. He said deGrom has the room to throw up to 60 pitches on Saturday, but wants him to go no more than four innings.

In deGrom’s first spring start Sunday, he threw three innings but was incredibly efficient, throwing fewer than 30 pitches.

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