Rangers ace deGrom ‘frustrated’ to land on IL

ARLINGTON, Texas — Rangers ace Jacob deGrom is “definitely frustrated” that he’s landed on the injured list with right forearm tightness.

“I want to be out there,” deGrom said Sunday, speaking to the media for the first time since he was placed on the IL on Saturday. “There’s a little inflammation in there, so the goal is to get that knocked out here in the next few days and resume throwing. So, staying optimistic about it.”

DeGrom exited after 3⅔ innings in his last start against the New York Yankees on Friday night. It was the second time in his past three starts that he left early with an injury. During a start at Kansas City on April 17, deGrom went four innings before leaving with right wrist soreness.

DeGrom was plagued by injuries the past two seasons with the New York Mets as he threw 156⅓ innings over 26 starts.

“Obviously, the goal was to not go on the IL. The goal was to make 30-plus starts and put this team in position to win,” deGrom said. “It’s disappointing to not be able to do that right now, but stay optimistic about it. Everything structurally looks fine, so get a little bit of that swelling out of there and pick up from there.”

DeGrom signed a $185 million, five-year contract with the Rangers in December after leaving the Mets. He is 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA over 30⅓ innings in his first six starts with Texas.

He’s taking a wait-and-see attitude on whether he’ll be ready to come off the IL when he’s eligible to return on May 14.

“Make sure everything is good and that way when we go back out there, we don’t have this again,” he said.