The Rangers will skip scheduled start Wednesday, president of baseball operations Chris Young told reporters (link via ). Young framed it as a workload management decision after the star righty experienced minor shoulder fatigue. Manager Bruce Bochy noted that deGrom has already visited team physician Dr. Keith Meister and been cleared of injury. It doesnt come as a huge surprise that deGrom is battling fatigue late in the season. Hes up to 24 starts and 140 1/3 innings. Its a workload that he hadnt come close to approaching since 2019. The truncated 20 schedule limited him to 12 starts. deGrom was limited to 15 appearances the following year by elbow inflammation. Shoulder i sues kept him to 11 starts in his final season with the Mets. His first two seasons in Texas were largely wiped out by Tommy John surgery. That makes it all the more remarkable that deGrom has continued to dominate during his age-37 campaign. He owns a 2.76 ERA while striking out 27.3% of batters faced with a huge 14.3% swinging strike rate. His fastball is back into the 98 MPH range on average. deGrom did have his two worst starts in consecutive appearances on July 28 and August 3, but he has rebounded to to s 11 2/3 frames of three-run ball over his past two outings. Texas has yet to announce a starter for tomorrows game. They dont have a team off day until Nick Fortes Jersey next Thursday, so even one skipped start wont be easy to work around. A bullpen game would put a lot of stre s on the pitching staff. is their only starter who is on optional a signment to Triple-A Round Rock. While theres no indication that Rocker is dealing with an injury, he hasnt pitched in the minors since August 7. has made a few spot starts this season and could be recalled, but he hasnt gone past two innings in an appearance in a month. The short-term is le s important than taking precautions with deGroms health. Hes signed for another two seasons with a club option for 2028. Meanwhile, this season increasingly looks like a lost cause. Texas lost again tonight to drop three games below .500. Theyve lost 10 of 12 and fallen six games back in the Wild Card race. As their season appears to be slipping away, Opening Day third baseman finds himself on the bench. Bochy has left the former All-Star out of the lineup in each of the past three games. He did make a pinch-hit appearance midway through Tuesdays contest. Young didnt sugarcoat things when discu sing Jungs recent lack of playing time. Theres been a lot of volatility with Josh, the front office leader said on Monday (link via ). There are times when hes dialed in and the performance is strong, but when it hasnt been as dialed in, its been a little bit more undisciplined. And just inconsistent. Given the kind of team our team is and the way a lot of guys have struggled this year, you can only tolerate so much volatility. Its clear Jung has fallen out of the lineup for performance reasons, not any kind of nagging injury. Rookie started at the hot corner on Sunday and Monday. Tonight, moved into third base from the right field spot hed manned of late, drawing into the outfield. Jung entered play with a .241/.290/.376 batting line over 372 plate appearances. As Young mentioned, he continues to chase would-be balls at a high rate and hasnt taken many walks. Jung had neverthele s hit fairly well through the end of May, but an atrocious June (.158/.208/.221) led Texas to send him back to Triple-A for a reset. Jung recorded a 10-game hit streak with three home runs immediately after being recalled on July 21. He has dropped back into a slump over the past two weeks, batting .143 with 11 strikeouts in 10 games. A former eighth overall pick, Jung is on track to surpa s the three-year service threshold and will reach arbitration this offseason. The Rangers wouldnt non-tender him, but it doesnt seem out of the question that they could consider a change-of-scenery trade. Theyll certainly need to make some changes to a lineup that ranks 24th in MLB in scoring. Mike Baumann Jersey
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