SURPRISE, Ariz. — Does Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker remember any of his at-bats against then-New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom? Not really, the former infielder conceded, though he was palpably delighted to learn of his career 2-for-3 line against the lanky right-hander.
What does ring a bell, from his days as the San Diego Padres’ first base coach, is a game at New York’s Citi Field against deGrom in which something close to desperation spurred Schumaker’s team to opt for a first-pitch hit-and-run “if anybody got on” against that season’s eventual National League Cy Young Award winner.
There was a hearty emphasis on “if,” because as Schumaker said, “it didn’t matter who was up.”
Wednesday, in a pre-World Baseball Classic exhibition against Team Brazil at Surprise Stadium, Schumaker watched deGrom chuck 98-mph fastballs in his spring debut from behind a net adjacent to the Texas dugout.
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“I liked that seat a lot better,” Schumaker said, “yes.”
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Imagine what it might look like in, say, September or October. Schumaker and the Rangers would like to find out, which is why, despite the fact that the 37-year-old’s elbow surgery is now nearly three years in the past, the club will still proceed with caution to maximize their All-Star’s abilities.
The Rangers carefully managed deGrom’s workload last season, his first healthy campaign with the club since he signed a five-year, $185 million contract, and limited his pitch or inning count when possible. Of the 47 pitchers who made 30 or more starts last season, deGrom’s 87.2-average pitches per start were the seventh-fewest. Those in that group who averaged fewer included then-St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray (4.28 ERA) — now with Boston — Colorado Rockies right-hander Kyle Freeland (4.98 ERA) and Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante (5.31 ERA).
In 2015 for example — the only other time in deGrom’s career that he started exactly 30 games — he averaged 99.2 pitches per start. That was a decade and seven trips to the injured list ago, though, and a more manageable workload for a 27-year-old than it is for a 37-year-old.
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Schumaker said the Rangers will take a “similar progression” this season and try to keep deGrom “around” the 172 2/3-inning mark he logged last year in an effort to ensure the two-time Cy Young winner is fresh late into the year.
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“I think it’s going to be a very similar approach to try to get the best out of him, and for us, and also be strong to make a September push,” Schumaker said. “Hopefully, when there’s meaningful games in September, we can use him and he’s built up to let it go.”
To that point, deGrom said Wednesday after his spring debut he felt like he was “ready to go” if the Rangers qualified for the playoffs last year. He also has a personal goal to pitch 200 innings this season, something he hasn’t done in seven years and something that may require some workload management leniency. Schumaker did acknowledge that deGrom “may even exceed” the inning threshold he reached last year if the Rangers are in contention by season’s end.
He threw 39 pitches in two innings Wednesday, reached 98.6 mph with his fastball, worked in each of his pitches and struck out three batters. The one blemish — the kind deGrom has vowed to improve upon from last season — came with one out in the first inning when Team Brazil outfielder Lucas Ramirez hit a 98.6 mph fastball into the visitor’s bullpen for a solo home run. Ramirez, 20, is the son of 12-time All-Star outfielder Manny Ramirez.
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DeGrom allowed a career-high 1.4 home runs per nine innings last season and 26 total. Sixteen were hit off his fastball, more than any he’d ever given up with that pitch, and were the result of what he chalked up as misses over the middle of the plate. He blamed Wednesday’s home run on the same miscue.
“The shape of everything was good,” deGrom said. “It’s just that I threw it right down the middle.”
He was less peeved by the home run and more caught up with some mechanical minutiae about his front side movement, something he and the staff worked on in the pitching lab and something he plans to dissect later on video. He’ll likely make three more exhibition starts and build up to 85 pitches by opening day. That’s the same progression he and the club took last spring, and as Schumaker said, “it worked really well for him.”
“It’s just going to be based on feel,” deGrom said. “I felt like I could’ve kept going today.”
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The Rangers hope to hear that sentiment six months from now.
Twitter/X: @McFarland_Shawn
Related StoriesRead More3 Texas Rangers observations: Josh Smith’s 2 homers lead mercy-rule defeat of Team BrazilPlus, Brandon Nimmo is the last Rangers position player to make his spring training debut.Kumar Rocker works to diversify in latest spring training appearance vs. WBC’s Team BrazilThe 26-year-old allowed one run on seven hits in three innings, but he used his most diverse arsenal yet this spring.
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