SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Rangers manager Skip Schumaker overlapped with a couple of his current players in his playing days, including his top starting pitcher, Jacob deGrom.
He doesn’t remember much of his plate appearances against his former National League foe, but he was 2-for-3 against deGrom in his career. He remembers more about deGrom from his time as a coach in San Diego and St. Louis.
“When I was first-base coach in San Diego, and we went to New York, our game plan was that if anybody got on, it was a first-pitch hit-and-run,” Schumaker said. “It didn't matter. That's just how dominant he was, and still is. It's just unbelievable how he’s still going.”
deGrom made his first start of Spring Training on Wednesday against Team Brazil in an exhibition leading up to the World Baseball Classic. He allowed three hits -- one of them a home run to Lucas Ramirez, the son of Manny -- while striking out three.
It was the first start in a gradual buildup for the Rangers’ ace.
“I think it's going to be a very similar approach to try to get the best out of him and for us,” Schumaker said. “[We want] to be strong to make a September push. Hopefully, there's meaningful games in September and we can use him, and he's built up by then to let it go. So I think it’ll be a very similar progression. It worked out really well for him. We're trying to keep him around that mark. Depending on what September looks like for us, he may even exceed it. But obviously, there's a long way to go from now, and I'm just excited for today.”
deGrom said there was a discussion early in the offseason about how he could most efficiently build up to the regular season. In 2025, the slow buildup was due to necessity as deGrom was coming off his second Tommy John surgery.
That system worked for deGrom, who made the All-Star team and finished the season with a 2.97 ERA in 172 2/3 innings.
He liked the approach last spring and early in the regular season and decided in conjunction with the coaching staff and front office that this would be the best way for him to move forward and be healthy down the stretch.
“I tried to set personal goals,” deGrom recalls of his 2025. “I'd like to throw 200 innings again. So we'll just see. Last year, I was able to make 30 starts, and I felt like I could have kept going. If we would have made the playoffs, I felt like I was ready to go. So we'll build off that and just see how this year is going to go. Hopefully I run out there as many times as I can.”