ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom faced live hitters for the third time in recent weeks on Saturday and said he feels ready to begin a rehab assignment next week in hopes of pitching for the Texas Rangers for the first time since June 2023.

“My arm feels great except now it’s just been, what, how many months? Fourteen?” said deGrom, 36, who threw about 45 pitches in three innings. “You’ve got your guys (teammates) in there. You go face other guys, and I think that’ll help a little bit.”

A rehab assignment beginning next week would likely be with Double-A Frisco.

“It looks like Jacob’s ready to go. We’ll see how he comes out of this,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’ll be starting rehab here soon.”

Fellow Rangers starter Jon Gray also faced hitters for three innings on Saturday, and Bochy said he's ready to return to the starting rotation.

Texas signed deGrom to a $185 million, five-year contract during the winter before the 2023 season, when he was limited to 30 1/3 innings before the end of April, and then had surgery June 12. He was 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA with 45 strikeouts.

DeGrom said on Saturday that he was frustrated with his inability to keep his pitches down, which he attributed to not getting full extension.

“That’s the last thing to come,” he said.

He didn’t hazard a guess of how many innings he’d like to log after returning but acknowledged simply getting into big league games this season is important.

“Get out there this year, kind of treat it like a normal offseason, and get ready for next year,” he said.

Bochy agreed.

“He’s missed a lot of time,” he said. “He’s an athlete. He’s a pitcher. He wants to compete. I think it means a lot to him as he goes into the offseason.”

Gray, 5-4 with a 3.73 ERA, most recently pitched on July 23. He was scheduled to start on July 28 but left the mound before throwing one pitch because of a groin strain.

__

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb