Texas Rangers Ace Thriving Despite Drop-Off in Stuff To Start Season

The 2025 MLB regular season has not gone according to plan for the Texas Rangers, who have been one of the most disappointing teams in the league thus far.

Their offense has been abysmal, unable to consistently produce runs, putting a ton of pressure on the pitching staff to produce every game.

More often than not, the pitchers have stepped up and answered the call, producing at an incredibly high level.

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It is the only thing keeping the team afloat at this point, with the Rangers spiraling. With a 30-35 record entering play on June 8, Texas is wasting some excellent performances from its pitching staff with an underwhelming offense.

One of the players who has stepped up on the mound, performing when the team needed them most, is Jacob deGrom.

The two-time National League Cy Young Award winner has battled injuries over the last few years. 

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After signing with the Rangers in free agency, deGrom made nine starts across two seasons in 2023 and 2024. Already in 2025, he has made 13 appearances, putting him on track to make the most starts in a season since 2019, the last time he made more than 15.

What has made his performance this season even more impressive is that he is doing it with a decrease in his stuff.

Coming into the year, a plan was put in place for deGrom to lower his velocity with an eye toward improving his health.

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It has worked, as he is consistently taking the mound and producing despite his stuff not being as nasty as in years past.

“He is in the midst of a momentary step back in stuff, with his fastball down a tick off the start before, his slider dropping under 89 mph for the first time, and his overall Stuff+ dipping under 100 for two starts in a row now,” wrote Eno Sarris of The Athletic (subscription required), in a piece ranking starting pitchers for the remainder of 2025 for fantasy baseball.

deGrom currently has a K/9 ratio of 8.7, which would be the lowest single-season mark in his career. He has done an excellent job keeping his opponents off the board, still with a 0.917 WHIP.

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The drop in stuff isn’t negatively impacting his production with a 2.12 ERA.

Texas and deGrom will certainly take that, with him being available every time it is his turn through the rotation and still putting up the numbers to put the team in a position to win games.

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