Rangers Ace Has Entered Heated AL Cy Young Race After Dominant Showing

The Texas Rangers are not having a spectacular season by any means, as they struggle to play better than .500 baseball and keep their nose in the playoff picture.

Though it has been tough sledding for numerous players on the team, one of the Rangers stars is having a resurgent year and finally looks like the superstar version of himself that Texas handed a huge contract to a couple offseasons ago.

When the Rangers signed Jacob deGrom to a five-year deal worth $185 million ahead of the 2023 campaign, the team and fans thought they had just landed the best pitcher on the planet and someone who would change the outlook of the rotation.

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But through the first two years of the deal, deGrom made a total of just nine starts as the injury concerns that were present when he signed reared their ugly head.

Going into 2025, the hope was that he was finally fully healthy and ready for a big season, but the right-hander has exceeded even the wildest expectations.

On Wednesday night against the Baltimore Orioles, deGrom had a perfect game going through six innings and would finish with seven innings pitched and just one hit with no runs and seven strikeouts.

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The marvelous performance brought deGrom's ERA down to a 2.08 with a scorching 0.881 WHIP and a record of 8-2 over his first 16 starts. The 37-year-old has struck out 94 in his 95.1 innings compared to just 20 walks.

More significantly than just a dominant seven-inning showing in a June victory is the position deGrom has now put himself in among the American League elite.

In a clash of the titans, deGrom has done more than throw his hat into the ring for the American League Cy Young race that includes the reigning winner in Detroit Tigers superstar Tarik Skubal, New York Yankees ace Max Fried and Boston Red Sox star Garrett Crochet.

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Skubal has been even better this year than last with a 2.29 ERA and Major League-best 0.873 WHIP. Incredibly, he has 125 strikeouts in 102 innings compared to just 13 walks alongside a 9-2 record.

Fried has been downright dominant with a 1.92 ERA and 0.944 WHIP, as well as a Major League-leading 10 wins on his record.

Crochet leads baseball in innings pitched and has a 2.06 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 109.1 innings pitched, already responsible for a bWAR of 3.8.

From the hated rival of Texas, Houston Astros breakout youngster Hunter Brown has the best ERA in baseball at 1.88 and is allowing just 5.5 hits per nine innings.

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All five superstars have put themselves at the forefront of the race in the first half of the season, and it's shaping up to be an epic race down the stretch for the coveted award.

deGrom is going to have his work cut out for him if he's going to make Rangers history by bringing home the Cy Young Award, but if he can have more performances like Wednesday night, the noise is only going to get louder.

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