ARLINGTON -- On May 15, 2014, a Mets prospect named Jacob deGrom took the mound at Citi Field to make his MLB debut. That night, he tossed seven innings of one-run ball in a loss to the Yankees.
Eleven years later, deGrom is a seasoned veteran with a pair of Cy Young Awards under his belt. And on Thursday, he celebrated the anniversary of his debut with another masterclass, firing eight shutout innings against the Astros in a 1-0 victory -- Texas' sixth straight win -- to open the Silver Boot Series at Globe Life Field.
Recalling his debut, deGrom said he was scared to death before Mets infielder Daniel Murphy came to his locker to give him some advice.
“I believe it was Murphy who said, ‘Hey, do what you did to get here, your stuff plays,’” deGrom recalled. “One of the hardest things to do in this game is trust your stuff. You always try to overdo it. There's times where still, however many years later, I try to overdo it, versus just trusting your stuff and going out there and competing with what you got.”
He had no trouble trusting his stuff on Thursday. He allowed five hits and a walk in the win, but thanks to some electric outfield defense and timely strikeouts, deGrom muscled his way through his eight shutout innings in his first career start against the Astros.
The victory gave Rangers skipper Bruce Bochy 2,195 for his career, surpassing Sparky Anderson for sixth all-time.
"What a game,” Bochy said. “It was everything we thought this game would be. We knew runs would be at a premium. What a game Jacob threw, and their guy was so tough, too. Just a terrific game to be part of. … [deGrom] has been pretty locked in. I think he knew this would be a battle. He's one of the best ever in this game. He knew this was an important game, with who we were going against. He was locked in as much as any start I've seen.”
The eight innings marked deGrom’s longest start since April 23, 2021, against Washington as a member of the Mets, when he pitched a shutout. It was also his 11th career start of eight or more shutout innings and his first with Texas.
Another Jacob -- Jake Burger -- delivered the only run of the night with a homer in the sixth inning off Astros starter Hunter Brown, who held his own against one of the best in the sport. Brown ultimately shouldered the loss, despite pitching eight innings of one-run ball opposite deGrom.
“Anytime deGrom has a baseball in his hand, you feel really good playing behind him,” Burger said. “He’s so electric. He's himself. He's who everybody knows he is. It's awesome to see him do what he did tonight in such a big game. It felt like a playoff baseball game, with two good pitchers dueling and really good defense on both sides of the ball. It's really, really cool.”
While Brown carried a perfect game into the fifth inning, deGrom dealt with a bit of traffic through the early innings. It was nothing he couldn’t handle though. He navigated each potential threat easily.
deGrom allowed back-to-back baserunners in the second inning, before ending the frame with a strikeout looking of Jake Meyers. He again allowed back-to-back baserunners in the fourth inning before getting a swinging strikeout of Zach Dezenzo. In the fifth, he allowed a two-out single to Jeremy Peña before blowing a 98 mph fastball by Jose Altuve for a swinging strikeout.
He stranded runners in scoring position in the second, fourth and seventh innings.
“He's one of the best ever, and now that he's healthy, you're seeing it,” Bochy said. “He's done this for a while. I mean the numbers, they show he's one of the best ever. You see what this man's doing right now. He's right back on track, he's healthy. I enjoy watching him, I’m a fan, too.”
Since his last Cy Young Award in 2019, deGrom has been plagued by injuries in each of the last five seasons. He underwent his second Tommy John just months into his tenure as a Ranger, sidelining home for much of 2023-24.
In 2025, he returned to looking like the best version of himself, dropping his season ERA from 4.30 to 2.29 over his past six starts.
“The goal is just to try to take the ball as much as I can,” deGrom said. “You miss that much time, you really miss this game. We give a lot to play this and then having to miss time, there is unknown. Being able to come back and pitch some last year, that gave me a little peace of mind going into this season. I was able to prepare well this off season and I want to try to go out there as many times as they let me.”