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
NEXT UP: Game dates, times, locations, channel
Rangers ▶
May 8 Chicago Cubs 7, Rangers 1
May 9 Rangers 6, Chicago Cubs 0
May 10 Rangers 3, Chicago Cubs 0
May 11 Arizona 1, Rangers 0
May 12 Rangers 7, Arizona 4
May 13 vs. Arizona, 7:05 p.m., RSN
May 15 at Houston, 7:10 p.m., CW
May 16 at Houston, 6:10 p.m., RSN
May 17 at Houston, 1:10 p.m., RSN
May 18 at Colorado, 7:40 p.m., RSN
May 19 at Colorado, 7:40 p.m., RSN
May 20 at Colorado, 2:10 p.m., RSN
TCU Baseball ▶
May 1 Oklahoma State 7, TCU 6
May 2 Oklahoma State 9, TCU 2
May 3 Oklahoma State 11, TCU 10
May 8 TCU 3, Utah 0
May 9 TCU 3, Utah 1
May 10 TCU 4, Utah 3
May 14 at West Virginia, 5:30 p.m., ESPN+
May 15 at West Virginia, 5:30 p.m., ESPN+
May 16 at West Virginia, noon, ESPN+
May 19-23 Big 12 tournament (at Surprise, Ariz.)
Wings▶
May 9 Wings 107, Indiana 104
May 12 Atlanta 77, Wings 72
May 14 vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m., Amazon Prime Video
May 18 vs. Washington, 7 p.m., KFAA, Peacock
May 20 at Chicago, 8 p.m., KFAA, USA
May 22 at Atlanta, 6:30 p.m., Ion
May 24 at New York, 2:30 p.m., NBC, Peacock
TCU Football ▶
2026 season
Aug. 29 vs. North Carolina (at Dublin), 11 a.m., ESPN
Sept. 12 vs. Grambling State, TBA
Sept. 19 vs. Arkansas State, TBA
Sept. 26 at Central Florida, TBA
Oct. 3 vs. BYU, TBA
Oct. 17 at Baylor, TBA
Oct. 24 vs. West Virginia, TBA
Oct. 31 vs. Kansas, TBA
Nov. 6 at Arizona, TBA
Nov. 14 vs. Kansas State, TBA
Nov. 21 vs. Utah, TBA
Nov. 26 at Texas Tech, 7 p.m., ESPN
Cowboys ▶
2026 season
Sept. 13 at N.Y. Giants, 7:20 p.m., NBC
Sept. 27 vs. Baltimore (at Rio de Janeiro), 3:25 p.m., CBS
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.
