Jacob deGrom finally got it. Career win number 100 came on Monday night, and the date is what makes it stick.
The Rangers beat the Cardinals 2-1 at Busch Stadium, with deGrom throwing five scoreless innings on 91 pitches. He gave up four hits, walked one, and struck out eight. The bullpen held the lead. The win finally happened.
It was also his youngest son Nolan’s third birthday.
“Today is Nolan’s third birthday,” deGrom said, via Jeff Jones of MLB.com. “I’ll always remember that, getting my 100th win on his third birthday. It’s really cool.”
The Wait Was Brutal
deGrom had been stuck on 99 wins for over two weeks. That is the kind of stretch that follows you into every postgame interview. Reporters keep asking. Teammates start making jokes. Every start becomes a referendum on whether you are going to finally get the milestone.
The Rangers did not exactly make it easy on him in the actual game either. Texas mustered just two runs of support. deGrom had to sweat it out in the dugout for four innings after exiting the mound. If the bullpen blows it, he is back to staring at 99 for who knows how many more starts.
The Pure deGrom Dominance Is Back
The five-time All-Star is now 4-4 with a 3.48 ERA across 12 starts in 2026. That is a far cry from the otherworldly run he had with the Mets, but the fact that he is on the mound at all is the bigger story.
deGrom signed a five-year, $185 million deal with Texas in 2022 and immediately got hurt. He needed elbow surgery in 2023. He has been picking up the pieces ever since. The Rangers paid for an ace and got a pitcher who could only sporadically take the ball for the first two years of the contract.
This year is different. He has been healthy. The strikeouts are coming. The walk rate is in check. He looks like an actual top-of-the-rotation arm again.
The 100-Win Club
Career wins are a flawed stat that pitchers cannot fully control. Bullpens lose leads. Offenses fail to score. deGrom’s two Cy Youngs came partially because the Mets could not score for him. He should have racked up wins way earlier than 100.
That said, hitting the milestone still means something. He is one of the best pitchers of his generation, and he has the body of work to back it up. Two Cy Youngs, five All-Star nods, and now 100 wins.
What This Means For Texas
The Rangers are 31-29 and hovering around .500 in a brutal AL West. Houston is in the chase. The Athletics are nipping at their heels. Texas needs deGrom healthy and dominant if they are going to make a playoff push in the second half.
The fact that he just gave them five shutout frames in St. Louis is a good sign. So is the velocity. So is the fact that he is making consistent starts again for the first time since signing.
For deGrom and his family, the date on the calendar will always be the best part. Nolan will get to hear that story for the rest of his life.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
