Jacob DeGrom comes out with a tight forearm against the Yankees

Arlington – For the second time in three starts, Rangers left ace Jacob DeGrom in the middle of a walk with an injury concern.

During Friday’s 5-2 win over the Yankees, DeGroom was knocked out in the fourth inning due to what the club announced was right forearm tightness.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said, “It’s just a precaution, so we took him out. You know, from a few starts, he felt a little bit [off]So here’s what we decided to do – just be a little careful here. We’ll rate him tomorrow and see how he feels, so I’ll have a better answer tomorrow.”

DeGrume would handle three perfect runs before hitting a speed bump in the fourth. His final miss of the evening was an 89-mile-per-hour slider, which Willie Calhoun drove to left field for the Yankees’ first hit of the game. It was DeGrom’s slowest slider of the night

Coach Jacob Newborn, pitching coach Mike Maddaux, and manager Bruce Bochy all combined on the mound after DeGroom gave up that double-hit. He walked off the field a few minutes later, and was replaced by Dane Dunning.

“He was throwing great, wasn’t he?” Bushi said. “It was the Jacob that we knew. But it just started to tighten up a little bit there, so we’re being careful. We’ll see what happens tomorrow and see how he feels, and of course, we’ll evaluate him.”

DeGrum threw 28 pitches (20 for strikes) in the first three innings. In the fourth, he threw 22 pitches (12 strikeouts) while giving up a walk and striking out before exiting the game. Despite the injury, he looked like himself the entire trip, sitting in a fastball in the upper 90s and touching 100 mph a few times.

The second-to-last pitch was the slowest four-seamer of the night, at 96.6 mph.

DeGrom left his start on April 17 against the Royals due to a sore right wrist, but returned in his next scheduled outing against the A’s on April 23.

The Rangers were aware of DeGrom’s injury history before agreeing to a five-year, $185 million deal in December. The right-hander, a two-time NL Cy Young Award winner and four-time All-Star with the Mets, hasn’t made more than 15 starts in a season since 2019.

In 2020, DeGrom missed time with minor back and arm issues, and elbow inflammation sidelined him for the entirety of the second half of the ’21 season. A strain reaction in his right shoulder sidelined him in ’22.

But it was a risk Rangers were willing to take, because when he introduced deGrom, he was brilliant. In 30 1/3 innings this season, he posted a 2.67 ERA and 45 strikeouts. Texas is undefeated in its six starts.

DeGrom hasn’t missed a start yet, despite leaving early twice. The Rangers have been careful with the ace during his short time in Texas, but the next few days will be a waiting game as the staff continues to assess his health.