Former Met Jacob deGrom made it through his second rehab stint in impressive fashion and is nearing a possible return for his current club, the Texas Rangers.
The righty threw two scoreless innings for Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday, which included 24 pitches — 16 of which were strikes — and his fastball reaching 99.5 mph.
DeGrom was also slated to throw an additional 10-15 pitches in the bullpen, according to the Dallas Morning News.
He has been rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and the belief is that deGrom will make at least one more rehab start — possibly coming Sunday or Tuesday — before he is put back on the active roster.
The two-time CY Young winner threw on four days rest after his first rehab start on Thursday for Double-A Frisco, when he gave up a run on two hits and struck out three batters in a two-inning performance as well.
Over the course of the two starts, deGrom has thrown 37 of his 53 total pitches for strikes and the Rangers seem to be willing to allow him to complete some of his rehab in the majors under a very watchful eye.
“There is rehab that happens at the big league level,” Rangers general manager Chris Young said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “It happened with [Tyler] Mahle. There is a responsible way to slowly integrate him back in as part of the final step of rehab.”
Though the Rangers’ playoff hopes have become slimmer and slimmer, deGrom seems focused on getting back on the mound for Texas before the end of the year.
In part, to help his offseason training.
“You go through this process and I was fortunate enough to feel pretty good throughout the whole thing and not have any setbacks, I think it’d be more peace of mind to get out there, make a few starts, hopefully every fifth day, and then you can treat it a little bit more like a normal offseason,” deGrom told MLB.com. “I feel like if I don’t get out there, I’m almost gonna feel like I’m in rehab mode for almost two years, whereas if I get out there and pitch and am able to do it and recover well, then I can prepare for the next season like I normally do.”
