Injured Rangers righty deGrom looks "pretty good" in bullpen session

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom throws during the third inning of the team's baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, April 28, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

BALTIMORE (AP) — Texas Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom threw 31 pitches during a bullpen session Friday, mixing his pitches without showing any apparent sign of pain.

The injured pitcher threw in front of Texas manager Bruce Bochy and others before the Rangers faced the Baltimore Orioles.

The big questions now are: How will the 34-year-old pitcher feel in the aftermath of his latest throwing session? And when will he return from the injured list, where he’s languished with right elbow inflammation for nearly a month?

“He felt fine,” Bochy said. “Now it’s just wait and see how he recovers from that.”

DeGrom has been on the 15-day injured list since April 29. That was a day after he departed early for the second time in his last three starts, and an MRI showed some inflammation.

DeGrom threw 32 pitches Monday, all of them fastballs, during a bullpen session in Pittsburgh. For an encore Friday, he went for more variety.

“He spun the ball, slider more so than the curveball, threw some changeups. Used his whole arsenal,” Bochy said. “Looked pretty good.”

Texas won all six games started by deGrom (2-0) before the injury. But he’s only thrown 30 1/3 innings for the Rangers since they signed the former New York Mets star to a $185 million, five-year contract as a free agent in December.

There’s really no telling when deGrom will return to the starting rotation.

“After today, we’ll have a map outlined for him, his next step,” Bochy said. “It’s just hard to say at this point because you’re adjusting on the fly a little bit now.”

That could be another bullpen session with an increased workload, but for now Bochy is seeing progress.

“To me, it’s encouraging. He was letting it go and looked like he felt pretty good,” the manager said.

The right-hander started at least 30 games for the Mets from 2017-2019, but he totaled only 26 starts in his final two seasons in New York. He was shut down with an elbow injury in July 2021, and last year he didn’t pitch until August after enduring a stress reaction on his right scapula.

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