Former Mets player Jacob deGrom has made an impressive comeback through his second rehabilitation stint and is nearing a return to his current team, the Texas Rangers.
The right-hander pitched two scoreless innings at Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday, throwing 24 pitches – 16 for strikes – with his fastball reaching 99.5 mph.
DeGrom was scheduled to throw another 10 to 15 pitches in the bullpen. According to the Dallas Morning News.
DeGrom continues to rehab from Tommy John surgery and is expected to make at least one more rehab appearance — likely Sunday or Tuesday — before returning to the active roster.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner was on four days' rest after making his first rehab appearance at Double-A Frisco on Thursday, pitching two innings and allowing two hits and one run while striking out three.
In two starts, deGrom has thrown 37 of 53 total pitches for strikes, and the Rangers appear intent on allowing him to complete his rehab in the major leagues under very close supervision.
“At the major league level, there's rehab,” Rangers general manager Chris Young told the Dallas Morning News. [Tyler] “Marle, there is a responsible way to slowly bring him back in as the final stage of his rehabilitation.”
With the Rangers' playoff hopes looking increasingly dim, deGrom seems focused on getting back on the mound for Texas before the end of the year.
It's also to help with off-season training.
“Going through this process, I've been fortunate to feel pretty good throughout it and not had any setbacks. Hopefully once I get a couple of starts every five days I'll feel a lot more comfortable and be able to treat it like a normal offseason.” deGrom told MLB.com. “If I don't play, I'll probably feel like I'm in rehab mode for about two years. But if I can play and pitch and recover well, then I can prepare for next season as I normally would.”
