The mild left glute strain that scratched Jacob deGrom from the first-half finale kept him out of the Texas Rangers‘ second-half opener Friday night, and the contingency plan wore it. Cal Quantrill started in deGrom’s place and allowed 11 hits and six earned runs over four innings in a 15-1 loss in Atlanta, the game in which Chris Sale reached 2,700 career strikeouts against a Texas lineup that managed five hits.
The news on deGrom himself is better than the scoreboard. Per NBC Sports, he will throw a bullpen session Saturday and is expected to make his next start during the home series against the Chicago White Sox that opens Monday. The Rangers continue to believe the strain will not require an injured-list stint. Texas lined up Quantrill on Friday and MacKenzie Gore for Saturday, leaving Sunday’s Atlanta finale listed as TBA in case deGrom’s bullpen goes well enough to move him up — though Monday remains the likelier target.
The caution is defensible because of what deGrom has been: 7-5 with a 3.49 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP through the first half. The margin for error around him is thin. At 49-48, Texas holds first place in the AL West by 1.5 games over Seattle, and the front office has already committed to buying rather than selling before August 3. A healthy deGrom every fifth day is the single biggest variable in whether that plan looks smart in October.
Friday also showed what the alternative looks like. Quantrill’s start pushed the bullpen into five innings of mop-up work, including a position-player inning from catcher Kyle Higashioka, in a game that was gone by the fifth.
For fantasy purposes, hold deGrom with confidence — he returns at home, and he could line up for two starts next week if the Rangers keep him on regular rest. Quantrill, meanwhile, should be off streaming radars entirely until the rotation order settles.
