Texas Rangers Signed Jacob deGrom to Stop Skids

With the Texas Rangers mired in a four-game losing streak, ace Jacob deGrom takes the mound Friday night against the New York Yankees.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Friday is the biggest Jacob deGrom Day for the Texas Rangers since Opening Day.

On that day, all the buzz was about the Rangers taking their top free-agent acquisition for his first spin at home.

On Friday, it will be about deGrom shutting down the Rangers’ longest losing streak of the season.

After all, as first baseman Nathaniel Lowe put it after Thursday’s 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees, “Losing sucks.”

The Rangers (14-11) have lost four straight since beating the Oakland Athletics on Sunday. In doing so they’ve fallen into a tie for first place with the Houston Astros in the American League West.

What’s worse is that the Rangers have been in all four games and lost them by a combined six runs. The bullpen has blown saves. The Rangers had the misfortune to run into one of baseball’s best starters in New York’s Gerrit Cole on Thursday, and he performed like an ace.

Now, it’s up to deGrom (2-0) to do the same thing.

“We’ve got to win ball games, that’s the bottom line there,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “We have confidence in all of these guys.”

But the ultimate confidence is in deGrom. It has to be. You don’t sign a guy for $185 million for five seasons and expect him to not be at his best every start.

A pitcher like deGrom is a streak stopper, and even though he only has two wins in five starts, for the most part he’s pitched like an ace. The Rangers are undefeated (5-0) in deGrom starts. He’s struck out 43 of 102 batters this season, which is 42.2 percent, second-best in the Majors behind the Atlanta Braves’ Spencer Strider.

Since his Opening Day start — five earned runs and failed to get out of the fourth, but the Rangers still won — deGrom is 2-0 with a 1.57 ERA, 36 strikeouts, three walks and batters are hitting .146 against him.

That all works in deGrom’s favor against the Yankees. The problem is, well, the Yankees. deGrom’s history against the franchise is a bit shaky.

In six starts he’s 2-4 with a 3.51 ERA with 40 strikeouts and 11 walks. Perhaps more important to a Rangers club with a shaky bullpen is that deGrom has worked at least five innings each of his six starts against the Yankees.

His last start against the Yankees was in 2018 with the New York Mets. deGrom went 6 2/3 innings at Yankee Stadium, giving up five hits, three runs (two earned), two walks and struck out 12.

The Rangers need their ace more than at any other time in this young season. Stopping the streak now before it spins out of control is vital.

“I’d rather go through this stretch in April than in August,” Lowe said. “We’ve just got to keep going.”

Clarke Schmidt (0-2, 6.30) goes for New York in the second game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Globe Life Field.

More From SI’s Inside The Rangers:

1. Texas Rangers New Nike City Connect Jersey Pay Homage to Dallas-Fort Worth
2. Arlington Mayor Says Rougned Odor ‘Punch’ Mural to Stay
3. Texas Rangers Clubhouse ‘Insane’ Says Reliever
4. Texas Rangers MVP in 2023?
5. Predicting Texas Rangers 2023 Record
6. Jose Altuve Injury Potentially Helps Texas Rangers Playoff Chances
7. MLB Plan for Television Texas Rangers
8. Why did Bochy Tab deGrom for Opening Day?
9. Bally Sports Southwest to Televise Nearly All Rangers Games
10. Texas Rangers Unveil Exciting New Ballpark Food

---

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook and Twitter.