Texas Rangers News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) delivers a pitch to the Los Angeles Angels during the second inning at Globe Life Field. Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images

Rangers Have Jacob deGrom Locked in for Critical Series with Astros

Originally posted on Texas Rangers on SI
By Matt Postins | Last updated Sep 4, 2025 8:27 PM ET

The Texas Rangers could have come home with a better situation, even as they went 4-2 on their last road trip. But losing the final two games to the Arizona Diamondbacks stole a chance for the Rangers to gain ground in the AL Wild Card race and pass the Seattle Mariners who have the final wild card berth.

So, Texas (72-69) now gets a golden opportunity to gain back more control over their destiny as they face the Houston Astros for a three-game series at Globe Life Field that starts on Friday. Houston will be coming in from wrapping up a three-game series with the New York Yankees and will be up by no more than six games over the Rangers, depending on the result.

Anything less than a sweep for the Rangers would be problematic if they hope to catch the Astros. That may be asking too much, but Houston has not set its rotation for the series as it is dealing with an injury to Spencer Arrighetti. The AL Wild Card race is still in play and winning at least two out of three games would help keep Texas in position behind Seattle, which is 1.5 games ahead of the Rangers.

The good news for Texas is that it has the right three pitchers set up to face the Astros starting on Friday.

Friday: Merrill Kelly

Kelly (11-7, 3.24) is coming off a solid start in his last appearance against the Athletics on Saturday. He gave up six hits and three earned runs in 6.1 innings, with two strikeouts and no walks. At the time he was traded for, it seemed a bit superfluous. But, as Tyler Mahle is still out and Nathan Eovaldi is done for the year, the trade turned out to be well-timed. Kelly is 2-1 with a 3.31 ERA in his six starts with the Rangers.

In his 164 innings he has struck out 149 and walked 46. Batters are hitting just .208 against him and Houston’s offense has been hit-and-miss lately. Kelly will be a free agent after the season.

Saturday: Jacob deGrom

deGrom (11-6, 2.69) has not quite been himself since the All-Star break, but he was solid in his last start. He allowed two hits and no runs in five innings on Sunday against the Athletics. He struck out six and walked one. In his last seven starts he is 2-4 with a 3.79 ERA, including 48 strikeouts and nine walks in 38 innings. Length could be an issue. Texas is trying to manage his workload, and he’s pitched just five innings in each of his last three starts.

deGrom has 161 strikeouts and 33 walks in 150.1 innings. Batters are hitting just .194 against him and he has a 0.92 WHIP. Home runs have been an issue of late. He’s given up at least one in seven of his last 10 starts, but just one in the last four starts.

Sunday: Patrick Corbin

Corbin (7-9, 4.48) also had some issues after the All-Star break, but he’s righted the ship of late. He claimed a win two starts ago by tossing eight innings and allowing three hits against the Los Angeles Angels. Against Arizona on Monday and he took a no-decision and went 5.2 innings, giving up five hits and five earned runs with one walk and five strikeouts.

Corbin is a free agent after the season. He has 114 strikeouts and 44 walks in 136.2 innings. He’s allowing batters to hit .266 against him, so getting length out of Kelly and deGrom to help preserve the bullpen could be critical in the finale.

This article first appeared on Texas Rangers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: