Saturday afternoon was supposed to be the first time we saw Jacob deGrom take the mound in 2026.

Unfortunately, that will not be the case as on Saturday morning, the Texas Rangers announced that deGrom would be scratched from his season-opening start due to neck stiffness.

The Rangers do not believe this is a serious issue and expect that deGrom could still start at some point on this season-opening road trip.

As for Saturday, Jacob Latz will get the start after failing to win the fifth starter spot in Spring Training. He will wind up getting a start in one of the Rangers' first five games after all.

There is no doubt that situations like this prove just how valuable Latz is to the team. He can slide into a starter's role on little to no notice and still give the Rangers confidence that they have the chance to win that day's game.

Last season, Latz went 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA across 85 2/3 innings pitched as both a starter and a reliever.

The Rangers were able to make it through Spring Training pretty much unscathed on the injury front. But now, just one game into the season, their depth is being tested.

First-year Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said he knew that his team’s depth was going to be tested at some point and that the bench players would have to be ready to step up and help them win games.

As for deGrom, the push back now puts his status as the starter for Friday’s home opener into question.

However, it does seem that there is a chance his first start could come on the home opener if, in fact, he doesn’t make it on this road trip.

Overall, the Rangers are mostly playing things safe when it comes to this specific injury, as they have with deGrom since he’s been in Texas.

Last season, deGrom only missed a couple of starts due to precautionary measures in a season in which he went 12-8 with a 2.97 ERA.

When healthy, deGrom is certainly still one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. So, the Rangers want to be cautious in making sure it stays that way.

When deGrom gets back on the field, he will be at the top of a very strong Rangers rotation that features Nathan Eovaldi, MacKenzie Gore, Jack Leiter, and Kumar Rocker.

For now, it seems the Rangers will have to weather a very short storm without one of their superstar pitchers.

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