DeGrom: 'Health wise, I feel good' after 2nd spring start

Texas Rangers ace Jacob deGrom is pleased with how he feels physically after going four innings Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners in his second Cactus League appearance.

"Health wise, I feel good, that's the main thing," deGrom said, according to Kennedi Landry of MLB.com. "We got up to 57 pitches today, so that's good. Now it's just locking it in for go time."

The two-time NL Cy Young winner allowed two runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts in a performance he called "fine."

DeGrom, who returned from Tommy John surgery in September, also acknowledged he hasn't been maximizing his velocity during spring training in an attempt to preserve his arm for the season.

"I could let it go more," deGrom said. "It's just that a day like today, especially when I'm flying open, then you got to be smart with that. You want to land properly and then let it go. I was trying to govern it (the velocity), and see if I could locate it this way. I wasn't locating any of them really well. Like I said, I've got a bullpen and then another game and we'll figure it out."

The 36-year-old right-hander has logged just 197 1/3 innings since 2021 because of multiple injuries. He's also recorded only 41 innings after signing a five-year, $185-million contract with the Rangers in December 2022.