There has been no indication of when Jacob deGrom will return to the Texas Rangers from his latest stint on the injured list, and it’s looking more likely that he will miss more than the minimum 15 days.
The 34-year-old, who left his start against the Yankees on April 28 with forearm tightness and was later diagnosed with elbow inflammation, was just playing light catch as of Monday, according to the Dallas Morning News, with no date set for him to throw a bullpen session.
DeGrom is eligible to return to the Rangers’ active roster on Sunday.
“We’re going very easy with it and testing it out,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said, per the Dallas Morning News.
DeGrom left the Mets during the winter to sign a five-year, $185 million contract with Texas, which includes a sixth-year option that could push the total to $222 million.
The right-hander made just 26 regular-season starts over his final two seasons with the Mets after various arm injuries.
The start of his first spring with the Rangers was delayed due to side tightness, and he left a start against the Royals on April 17 after four hitless innings because of wrist soreness
“I want to be out there,” deGrom said on April 30 after he was placed on the injured list the day prior. “There’s a little inflammation in there, so the goal is to get that knocked out here in the next few days and resume throwing. So, staying optimistic about it.”
DeGrom said at the time he was “definitely frustrated” by his latest setback.
“Obviously, the goal was to not go on the IL. The goal was to make 30-plus starts and put this team in position to win,” he added. “It’s disappointing to not be able to do that right now, but stay optimistic about it. Everything structurally looks fine, so get a little bit of that swelling out of there and pick up from there.”
