ARLINGTON, Texas — On paper, an Opening Day matchup of aces Aaron Nola and Jacob deGrom looked to be must-see TV.
On paper, the absence of sluggers Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins looked to potentially reduce the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies lineup to a mere feast for deGrom.
On paper, the bottom third of the Texas Rangers lineup offered nothing but question marks before the first pitch was even thrown.
The Opening Day contest from Globe Life Field proved that with baseball, the game is never played on paper.
The Pitching
Nola versus deGrom was the highlight pitching matchups of the day when the probables for all 30 MLB teams were announced. What transpired was relatively one sided until the fourth inning.
The newly minted ace deGrom electrified the Arlington crown in the first inning, retiring Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto on ten pitches while striking out Turner and Realmuto on fastballs that reached triple digits.
After an easy bottom of the inning for Nola, in the second, things started to unravel for deGrom. It started out innocently enough, with a one-out double from Nick Castellanos, but then two batters later, Alec Bohm, fresh off a tremendous postseason for Philadelphia, delivered a bolt to the right field bullpen for a two-run home run. Nola, meanwhile, delivered a shutdown inning on seven pitches.
Then in the third, deGrom allowed two squeakers down the right field line that the Phillies aggressively turned into triples, including one by Trea Turner that hit the bag. A wild pitch later and the Phillies had grown the lead to 4-0 over deGrom, whose ERA against Philadelphia before the contest sat at 2.18 in 20 career starts.
deGrom allowed a double to Bohm and collected a hard hit out from Jake Cave in the fourth and his afternoon was done. Pitch count notwithstanding – 73 pitches in 3 ⅔ innings after being on a limit of around 70 – deGrom wasn’t missing bats anymore. He ended the day with 49 of those 73 pitches thrown for strikes and racked up seven strikeouts, but with a full bullpen behind him and an off day on Friday to rest them, manager Bruce Bochy pulled the trigger on left-hander rookie Cole Ragans coming to relieve the ace.
Nola, for his part, went a circuitous route to also not surviving past the fourth inning, as Texas tagged the Phillies ace for five runs in the bottom of the frame, including the first homer of the year by Robbie Grossman.
But after Nola left, the beating continued, as the Rangers tagged reliever Gregory Soto for four more runs for a nine-run outburst that completely changed the game and got deGrom off the hook.
Ragans may have been the pitcher of record after inducing just one out before Texas took the lead, but major credit should go to Brock Burke for stifling the Phillies lineup for two innings to help make sure the lead stood, as he allowed three hits and one earned run while striking out three. Similarly, Jonathan Hernandez, who entered the game in the 7th, completed two frames of one-run ball, giving up a run after a Realmuto triple and a ground out.
Many wondered who would get the ball to close the game out, and while it wasn’t a save situation, Bochy handed the ball to former Rangers’ closer Jose Leclerc. The Master of the “Slambio” allowed a single and a walk after two pop-ups and closed out the game with a strikeout of Castellanos.
The key takeaways from the mound? deGrom, while he was roughed up and tagged for five runs, came out of the game throwing 73 pitches and wasn’t hurt. He’ll make his next start against Baltimore and the only negative feelings he had after his outing were that he felt like he needed to pitch better – which he did.
Again, big credit needs to go to Burke, Hernandez, and the bullpen. Even though there’s an off day between the first and second game of the series against Philadelphia, Bochy wasn’t forced to use a ton of arms in the win. Hernandez and Brock will likely be last resorts on Saturday, but they won’t be completely unavailable.
The Hitting
Nola was making Texas hitters look silly for the first three innings of the game. After gaining a lead, Nola has a reputation for bearing down a little harder, so the outcome for Texas looked bleak. But it was Corey Seager leading off the fourth with a single to center that started the Texas rally. After a Nathaniel Lowe ground out and an Adolis Garcia single put runners on the corners, perhaps the most critical at-bat of the day took place.
Rookie Josh Jung, getting the nod at third base, took Nola six pitches deep to work a walk. Every pitch was aimed at the bottom outside corner of the zone, no doubt trying to get the righty to roll one over into a double play. Jung, however, didn’t blink. After two called strikes that were very borderline, Jung could have chased any of the next two pitches – a cutter that was way out of the zone and a sinker that was a couple of inches past the previously called strikes.
The discipline in that moment, on the first Opening Day contest of his career, against a seasoned ace, was truly a turning point in the game. To draw the walk and load the bases and not try to take the glory for himself is a testament to what Texas expects out of Jung.
That walk set up Jonah Heim’s double down the right field line to get Texas on the board, and then it was time for new Ranger Robbie Grossman to step up to the plate. And step up he did, as Grossman, from the left side of the plate, crushed a homer to the same place Alec Bohm had drilled one two innings earlier. Grossman, the No. 7 hitter, wasn’t the only one from the bottom of the lineup to produce.
Two innings later, Brad Miller, who got the DH nod instead of Mitch Garver, likely as a byproduct of only carrying two catchers on the roster, rifled a 407 foot opposite field homer that scored Heim and gave the Rangers their final tally of 11 runs.
All in all, Grossman and Miller drove in five of Texas’ 11 runs from the bottom of the order. That will be a critical metric for the Rangers this season as the top of the lineup is expected to carry the team at the plate. Overall, every hitter in positions 1-6 also got at least one hit, except for Jung – but he had that incredible walk that helped to turn the tide for Texas.
Seager was the steady presence that he is expected to be as reached base in three of his plate appearances, drawing two walks to go with the single. Marcus Semien tallied two hits and stole a base, while Adolis Garcia collected two hits and two RBI. Nathaniel Lowe’s hit might have been a swinging bunt, but it drove in a run.
Amid the atmosphere of Opening Day, it was encouraging to see the offense pick up the ace after a less-than-stellar performance. For deGrom, who notoriously received very little run support during his time as a New York Met, it must have been a pleasant surprise to see his new team come through for him.
Do you think the Rangers can use their Opening Day win as a springboard in 2023? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
More Texas headlines: