Jacob deGrom makes strikeout history against familiar foe
Jacob deGrom still has his fastball at 38 years old.
The Rangers ace struck out the first two batters of his start on Thursday night in Arlington, Texas, then tipped his hat to the crowd after becoming the 95th pitcher in MLB history to reach 2,000 strikeouts.
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DeGrom (9-8, 3.77 ERA) went on to pick up the win by pitching six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in the Rangers’ 2-0 win.
“Maybe whenever my career is over I’ll look at that kind of stuff,” deGrom said. “But even when the season’s over, I’m like, ‘I’ve got to figure out a way to get outs the following year.’”
He reached the milestone against the Nationals, whom he’s struck out more than all but two other teams, facing them a plethora of times during his time with the Mets.
The historic punchout came in deGrom’s 272nd game and 1,661st inning pitched. He’s the second-fastest pitcher by both metrics to reach the milestone, trailing Randy Johnson (262 games) and Chris Sale (1,626 innings pitched).
Reaching 2,000 strikeouts has been a long time coming for deGrom, who has battled through injuries that held him to fewer than four innings in two of his last three starts.
The longtime Met has spent the past four seasons with Texas, but most of his career success — and strikeouts — came in Queens. In nine seasons in New York, deGrom showed himself to be one of the most memorable pitchers of the 2010s, winning back to back Cy Young Awards in 2018-19.
His 2018 campaign was arguably one of the most dominant in MLB history, as he maintained a mind-boggling 1.70 ERA over 217 innings while striking out 269 batters.
deGrom is fourth in Mets history with 1,607 Ks while topping the franchise leaderboards for career strikeouts per nine (10.9) and ERA (2.52), among many others.
Since leaving the Mets, deGrom has stayed dominant despite undergoing his second Tommy John surgery in 2023, six starts into his Rangers tenure.
The surgery seems to have paid off, and he’s considered one of the most successful pitchers to undergo the procedure twice. In 2025, his first full season since winning his second Cy Young, deGrom struck out 185 batters with a 2.97 ERA and finished eighth in voting for the award.
His 2026 season, though, has been the worst of his career. Through 23 starts, deGrom posted a 3.95 ERA. Although under league average, it’s far his career worst and over a run above his career average.
The below-.500 Rangers sit in second place in an abysmal American League West division and are just ½ game back for the third AL wild-card spot. If they make the playoffs, manager Skip Schumaker is almost certain to turn to deGrom for a Game 1 matchup.
As the trade deadline neared earlier this month, deGrom reportedly invoked his no-trade clause to stay with the Rangers despite interest from the Braves, among other teams.
— with AP
