The Texas Rangers won’t waste any time looking at how good Jacob deGrom is.
The ace right-hander, who signed a five-year, $185 million deal with the Rangers in the offseason, will be available next Thursday when the 2023 MLB season opens. Against Aaron Nola of Philadelphia.
For the first time since 1968, all 30 teams will play on the day.
This will be DeGroe’s fourth career opening day. The two-time Cy Young champion earned a nomination for the 2019-21 season while pitching for the New York Mets. Texas has been wary of deGrom during spring training after the 34-year-old deGrom reported tightness in his left side before team practices began in February.
He had a solid job last month, and the Rangers didn’t hesitate to make deGrom the seventh different pitcher the team has caught on Opening Day in the past seven years.
“Early on, we had to hold him back a little bit, but we thought he was happy to go,” new Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “We had a day off after opening day so we could cover him. We weren’t looking for him to take us really deep into the game or anything. So it was just all the meaning in the world to us.”
By contrast, Nola has been a regular for the Phillies. The 29-year-old will start Philadelphia’s sixth opening day. Only Hall of Famers Robin Roberts (12) and Steve Carlton (10) have started more season openers in Philly history.
On March 30, a total of eight Cy Young winners will be on the mound, including Corey Kluber, who will make his Boston debut when the Red Sox take on Baltimore. Kluber is the first rookie to start Boston’s first game since David Price in 2016.
Miami’s Sandy Alcantara will become the first Marlins pitcher to make four straight starts against three-time Cy Young champion Max Scherzer and the New York Mets Team. Alcantara, the unanimous NL Cy Young selection in 2022, would break a tie with Josh Beckett (2003-05) and Josh Johnson (2010-12) for the most starts in club history. Scherzer is one of five pitchers since 1900 to have 10 or more strikeouts on opening day at least three times in their careers.
This is the second time in as many years that a Cy Young winner has faced another on Opening Day. Cleveland’s Shane Bieber and Kansas City’s Zack Greinke met last spring.
Angels star Shohei Ohtani, who just led Japan to the World Baseball Classic title, will start for the second consecutive Opening Day in Los Angeles. Ohtani set career highs last year in wins (15), ERA (2.33), strikeouts (216) and innings pitched (166). Ohtani and the Angels start the season against Oakland left-hander Kyle Muller, who will make his first Opening Day start.
New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will join CC Sabathia, Jack Chesbro and Mel Stottlemyre is the only pitcher in franchise history to start four consecutive days when the Yankees host the San Francisco Giants.
Framber Valdez will start for World Series Champion Houston when the Astros host the Chicago White Sox.
The youngest starter will be Cincinnati’s Hunter Green. The 23-year-old tough pitcher will play against Mitch Keller and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Green struck out 164 in 125 2/3 innings as a rookie last season. Green also went 7 1/3 scoreless innings against the Buccaneers last April in a loss.
Washington’s Patrick Corbin is hoping starting on Opening Day will lead to a better season than he has experienced in 2021 and 2022. Corbin led the majors with a 9-16 ERA of 5.82 the past two seasons and went 6-19 last year with a 6.31 ERA. But with Stephen Strasburg still out with injury and top pick Cade Cavalli out for a year following Tommy John surgery, the Nationals are pivoting to win the 2019 World Series One of the few players on the team.
Hoskins gets second opinion
Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins will get a second opinion on left knee injury, but The team believes Hoskins will miss the entire 2023 season.
General manager Dave Dombrowski said while Hoskins will be re-evaluated, he would be “shocked” if the 30-year-old didn’t need surgery to repair the torn ACL .
Hoskins suffered a knee injury Thursday while rolling the ball. The Phillies will turn to Darick Hall in place of Hoskins. Hall, 27, will hit . 250 with nine homers and 16 RBI in 41 games as a rookie in 2022.
explain. “We think he’s ready to step up and be a major league player.”
Doubling down (S)
No more contract uncertainty for St. Louis Cardinals Team starter Miles Mikolas. The veteran right-hander signed a three-year, $55.75 million deal with the Cardinals through the 2025 season.
The new contract replaces his current contract, a four-year deal signed in February, 2019 that covers the 2020-23 season and expires this fall. Mikolas will receive a $5 million signing bonus on July 1 and will earn $18.75 million in 2023 and $16 million in each of the next two seasons. Mikolas is eligible for several prizes, including $250,000 for winning the Cy Young Award.
Mikolas is scheduled to start his second opening day of his career when the Cardinals host Toronto next Thursday. Mikolas went 12-13 last season with a 3.29 ERA while helping St. Louis to the NL Central title.
St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement. As he walked toward the New York Yankees dugout at the end of the final spring training game Friday, he was feeling down when something — or the person — caught his attention: Kerr’s 2-year-old Son Caden.
A young Cole walks up to the railing next to the dugout, forcing Cole to immediately change from his typical super-aggressive demeanor on the mound to being organized and just dad. He patted Caden on the head before getting down on one knee to chat with Caden’s brother Everett (born in January) and his wife Amy next to him.
Career,” Cole told YES Network after allowing one run, no walks and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. “That was really special. I look forward to more moments like this.
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AP Sports Writers Dan Gerston and Stephen Hawkins and AP National Writer Howard Fendridge contributed to this report Report contributed.
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