Jacob deGrom is officially sitting up from the coffin like The Undertaker.
The Texas Rangers made the big announcement on Tuesday that the veteran righty is formally set to make his 2024 season debut. deGrom will be starting for the team on Friday against the Seattle Mariners.
The two-time Cy Young winner deGrom, 36, has not pitched for the Rangers since April 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. But deGrom has slowly been working his way back, including making four rehab starts for Double-A Frisco over the last few weeks. In his most recent rehab outing on Saturday, deGrom was excellent with just one hit and zero walks allowed plus five strikeouts over four shutout innings.
It is probably too late for deGrom to boost the defending champion Rangers’ fortunes this year. They are currently 70-74 and a full six games out of wild-card position with 18 games left to play. But it should still be worthwhile for deGrom to get a few tune-up starts in the big leagues before the end of this year, especially since he is owed $115 million more by the Rangers through 2027 (pursuant to a contract that has some interesting wrinkles).