Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom is no stranger to injuries, with a litany of them over his 12-year MLB career. A season after logging his most starts since 2019 and winning AL Comeback Player of the Year, the right-hander will miss his first start of the 2026 season with a neck injury.
DeGrom was scratched from his scheduled start against the Phillies at 3:05 p.m. Saturday in Philadelphia. Left-hander Jacob Latz will start in his place against Philadelphia right-hander Aaron Nola.
DeGrom, a two-time NL Cy Young winner and five-time All-Star, said the injury is not serious and he could return to the mound in the team’s next series at Baltimore if his neck issues subside.
The Rangers were heavily relying on the 37-year-old to be at the top of their rotation next to right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who started Thursday. DeGrom went 12-8 with a 2.97 ERA and 185 strikeouts in 172 2/3 innings last season.
DeGrom explained the orgin of the injury and his outlook to reporters.
“Woke up this morning, right side of my neck was real stiff, so I took the first bus here to see if we could get it loosened up,” deGrom said. “... Hopefully it’s just a couple of days and be ready to go. It was fine. That’s what was so annoying, felt really good, threw my bullpen the other day, felt great.”
DeGrom described what he and the team did to try and loosen up his neck.
“We did some heat, laser stuff, stretched out just to see,” he said. “They wanted me to throw some plyo balls [weighted rubber training balls] to see, but I kinda feel it when I’m throwing most. It’s the first start of the season. Let’s not do something when it turns into multiple weeks when we can just push it a couple days and hopefully be back.”
Game schedule dates, times, locations
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June 22 Rangers 4, Miami 3
June 23 Miami 6, Rangers 4
June 24 Miami 4, Rangers 2
June 25 Rangers 6, Toronto 5
June 26 Rangers 5, Toronto 4
June 27 Rangers 7, Toronto 4
June 28 Rangers 3, Toronto 2
June 29 at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m., ESPN
June 30 at Cleveland, 5:40 p.m., RSN
July 1 at Cleveland, 12:10 p.m., RSN
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June 22 Wings 112, Seattle 110 (OT)
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Aug. 29 vs. North Carolina (at Dublin), 11 a.m., ESPN
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Oct. 3 vs. BYU, TBA
Oct. 17 at Baylor, TBA
Oct. 24 vs. West Virginia, TBA
Oct. 31 vs. Kansas, TBA
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Nov. 26 at Texas Tech, 7 p.m., ESPN
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Sept. 20 vs. Washington, 3:25 p.m., Fox
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Dec. 20 at L.A. Rams, 3:25 p.m., CBS
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All local matches at AT&T Stadium
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Knockout round
June 30 Norway 2, Ivory Coast 1 (round of 32)
July 3 Round of 32: Australia vs. Egypt, 1 p.m., Fox
Lawrence Dow is a digital sports reporter from Philadelphia. He graduated with a master’s degree in journalism from USC. He’s passionate about movies and is always looking for a great book. He covers the Texas Rangers and other sports.
