NEW YORK — He was once the best pitcher on the planet, the modern-day Sandy Koufax, only for injuries to cruelly disrupt his path to Cooperstown.
Another was the hottest free-agent pitcher in baseball, helping lead the Washington Nationals to their first World Series championship, only to become a financial burden who was kept around simply because of the hefty contract commitment.
The other was a career journeyman, who had not pitched in the big leagues since 2021, and was sitting home last summer believing his career was over.
Today, Jacob deGrom is pitching like a Cy Young winner again.
Patrick Corbin, ignored all winter this time around in free agency, has become the Texas Rangers’ lifesaver, preventing them from drowning in the AL West.
And Drew Pomeranz, acquired by the Chicago Cubs simply as a flier hoping to see if he could be a serviceable lefty in a beleaguered bullpen, has become a force.
These three veteran pitchers, each who will be celebrating their 36th and 37th birthdays this year, exemplify the beauty of baseball as three of the best comeback stories of the 2025 season, with baseball hitting the Memorial Day mile post marker this weekend.
DeGrom, who turns 37 in June, was under the bright lights once again in New York this week when he dominated the Yankees for seven innings. DeGrom, who has missed most of the past two seasons recovering from his second Tommy John surgery, is 4-1 with a 2.33 ERA in his first 10 starts, and regained his title as one of the nastiest pitchers on the planet.
The right-hander who signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the Rangers in December 2022, finally is feeling like himself again, showing the baseball world that when healthy no one is better. He has pitched seven innings in back-to-back starts for the first time since joining the Rangers, and has permitted two or fewer runs in seven consecutive outings.
“It’s almost like catching a video game,” Rangers catcher Kyle Higashioka says. “Just put the glove up there and that’s where the ball goes and it’s like 100 mph. He’s incredible.”
DeGrom, who has not made more than 15 starts since 2019, when he won his second consecutive Cy Young award while yielding a 2.05 ERA and striking out 11.2 batters per nine, is reminding everyone what we’ve been missing. If he stayed healthy, he’d be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame. Now, with only 88 career victories and 1,425 innings, he’d need to dominate until he’s 40 just to generate a debate.
He hopes to stay healthy as he relies on his curveball and changeup rather than just throwing the fastball and slider past everyone.
“You can’t live with the what-ifs,” deGrom says. “I never really thought about it, because every time I took the ball, the goal was to win. I still take it that way. I was younger at that time and felt like I could do it. Now it’s trying to be smart and continue pitching for quite a while.
“The main thing is the mental thing. You want to be out there competing. The goal was to always pitch as much as I could, take the ball as many times as I could. And when you don’t, you feel like a real letdown. We love playing this game. And when you’re going to miss that much time, it’s tough.’
Says Rangers manager Bruce Bochy: “I’m just really happy for him. I know he was getting tired of sitting on the sidelines. And now he’s back healthy. It’s exciting to see one of the best pitchers ever back in the game.’’
Drew Pomeranz: Retirement can wait
Pomeranz, who turns 37 in November, was home mowing the yard, playing golf and bored out of his mind last summer. He decided to give it one last shot when the Seattle Mariners came calling in November, offering a minor-league contract. He was still at Class AAA Tacoma in April when he believed he deserved a promotion. So, he exercised an upward mobility clause in his contract requiring the Mariners to either promote him or try trading him to a team willing to put him on their big-league team. The Cubs and Craig Counsell – who managed Pomeranz in MIlwaukee – gave him a call.
Pomeranz, who last pitched in the majors in 2021 with the San Diego Padres, has become invaluable for the Cubs, pitching 11 ⅓ shutout innings while yielding just four hits.
“When I pitched in my first game back,’ Pomeranz tells USA TODAY Sports, “you wouldn’t believe how many text messages I got from people saying, ‘Is that you? I thought you retired.’ It’s been pretty surreal being back.
“You have such a different perspective when something is taken away from you. There are so many times I thought this day would never happen again. I basically retired last year. I would get so close to being back in the big leagues, but then I’d get knocked down again. It sucks. You start to count out yourself out, to be honest.’
Pomeranz went home, played a lot of golf, and then it hit him. He’s 36 years old. Why not keep trying?
“You start thinking about things when you’re not playing,’ Pomeranz says. “It’s like you have the rest of your life to do other things, right? Our window in sports is so small. It’s not like other jobs when you can work until you’re 60. I mean, it’s just not just the compensation but this is what we’ve done since we were nine years old. It’s hard to find something like this outside of this field. There’s nothing like just being here.’
Now, here he is, throwing in the low 90s again, dominating on the mound, and playing for a marquee franchise that’s emerged as one of the finest teams in baseball.
“I mean, it just doesn’t feel real,’ Pomeranz says. “I’ve been dreaming about this moment for years. It’s toigh to keep pushing through mentally, physically, all of it, especially when over and over again, nothing is working.
“Now, just being healthy in the big leagues, throwing as hard as I can, and having this kind of success, it’s really a dream come true.’
Patrick Corbin: Fresh start
Corbin, who turns 36 in July, was 14-7 with a 3.25 ERA over 202 innings in the first year of his six-year, $140 million contract. He pitched 10 innings in three games in the 2019 World Series. Yet, he was never again the same. He went 33-70 with a 5.62 ERA the next five seasons, yielding a .300 batting average. He led the league in losses the past three seasons, and was kept around simply because no one was interested in trading for him.
He still kept taking the ball, never complained, and pitched 180 innings while trying to help out the young Nationals pitching staff. When he hit free agency and the winter dragged on, no one would have been surprised if he called it quits.
Corbin says he never considered retirement, working out all winter in Florida. He drew early interest from Atlanta and the Yankees, and some teams wanted him to pitch in relief before the Rangers signed him on March 18 for $1.1 million after pitchers Jon Gray and Cody Brown went down.
“I don’t know if it was really to prove myself,’ Corbin says. “I still have always felt like I could be a starter in this league. I think it was just kind of going somewhere new and just getting a fresh start.’
He stepped into the rotation April 8 and is still there, going 3-3 with a 3.59 ERA in eight starts. The Rangers’ superb defense has been ideal for Corbin’s arsenal pitching to contact.
“Having [Rangers pitching coach Mike] Maddux here, and some new eyes look at me too,’ Corbin says, “you kind of get that confidence back again and the conviction behind everything and just go out there and compete. ….
“Maybe a change of scenery was for the best.’
Certainly, it comes at an ideal time for the Rangers who badly needed to plug holes in the rotation, and with the way he’s pitching, he could remain longer than anyone possibly envisioned.
“When we lose two starters like we did, we signed him to just kind of fill the gap a little bit,’ Bochy says. “He’s done more than that. He’s been pitching as well as the rest of the guys.’
Around the basepaths
– The Chicago Cubs remain the favorite to host the 2027 All-Star Game, but MLB executives insist that no decision has been made. The Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles are firmly in the mix, with all three teams expected to host the All-Star Game from 2027-2029.
– The New York Yankees are convinced that Juan Soto was ready to re-sign with them on Dec. 11. He asked for a bit more time, was going to discuss it with his family during lunch, and the next thing they knew he was signing with the Mets after being persuaded by family members.
– Teams who inquired on veteran reliever David Robertson during the winter say he was seeking a one-year, $15 million deal. He has no plans to sign with a team now unless he receives a strong offer.
– The Texas Rangers are seriously considering trying Kumar Rocker as their closer when he returns off the IL. He has been out since April 24 with a shoulder impingement, but the Rangers believe that his fastball-slider combo could be lethal in the pen.
– Team USA officials are getting flooded with requests from players and their agents to play in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The biggest problem won’t be getting the star players, rather which players will be left off the roster. Kansas City Royals All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. has shown a deep desire to return after playing in 2023.
– The Marlins, Pirates, Rays, Royals and Athletics received the most revenue-sharing money in 2024.
– Teams are scrambling to bolster their bullpens with the influx of injuries around baseball.
The top targets: Kyle Finnegan of the Nationals; Felix Bautista, Seranthony Dominguez and Gregory Soto of the Orioles; David Bednar and Dennis Santana of the Pirates and Anthony Bender of the Marlins.
– The Dodgers have committed more than $740 million the past two winters on seven free-agent pitchers. Only two are healthy: starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto and closer Tanner Scott.
“Everything from my brain is about what we can do,’ Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, told reporters. “It’s like a game of Whack-a-Mole, and things keep popping up, and we’re doing the best we can to hit them down and keep our guys in a good spot to win as many games as we can.’
– The Yankees are aggressively searching for a right-handed bat, preferably a third baseman, while also looking for another starter.
– The Chicago Cubs’ offense has been insanely good, scoring a major-league leading 306 runs. They’ve scored at least four runs in an inning 25 times this year, the most by a Cubs’ team since 1887, and in double digits 11 times, the most since 1898 through 51 games.
– Sometimes, you get lucky. When the Mets acquired All-Star shortstop Javy Baez from the Cubs on July 30, 2021, the Cubs wanted prized pitching prospect Matt Allan in return. The Mets instead settled on outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who was considered their sixth-best prospect.
Allan, battling injuries, is pitching these days at Class A Brooklyn.
Crow-Armstrong, is playing like an MVP candidate in Chicago, with 14 homers, 40 RBIs, eight stolen bases, nine doubles and three triples in his last 34 games. He’s on pace to hit 44 homers and drive in 143 runs this season while stealing 44 bases.
The Cubs tried signing Crow-Armstrong to an extension guaranteeing about $65 million and have now watched his price-tag skyrocket.
– Remember when Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson was sent to the minors last season? He now has 13 homers, 40 RBI and a .886 OPS. He’s on pace to hit 41 homers with 125 RBIs.
– The Athletics are on track for groundbreaking on their new Las Vegas stadium in June, and insist everything is set to play at their new 33,000-seat ballpark in 2028.
– If the Orioles change managers again in the offseason, the leading candidate will be Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty, who played six years for the Orioles and nearly landed the Padres’ manager gig two years ago.
– All-Star shortstops Javier Baez and Trevor Story each signed six-year, $140 million contracts in the winter of 2021, and their numbers are eerily similar with the exception of Baez being much more durable.
Story has slashed .231/.290/.382 with 27 homers and 111 RBI in 211 games.
Baez has slashed .228/.269/.358 with 38 homers and 192 RBI in 401 games.
Tigers fans were calling for Baez to be released a year ago, now Red Sox fans want Story gone.
– Yes, that’s 78-year-old Gene Lamont wearing a Pirates uniform for the first time since he was fired as manager in 2000, serving as Don Kelly’s de facto bench coach. He hadn’t worn a uniform with any team since 20217.
– The Chicago White Sox are letting the world know that Pope Leo XIV is their own with a mural on a pillar in the lower concourse down the third-base line at their ballpark. The seat he had during Game 1 of the 2005 World Series – Section 140, Row 19, Seat 2 – will be commemorated this summer.
– That is former pizza deliveryman Colton Gordon now in the starting rotation for the Houston Astros. He delivered pizzas five hours a night for Clematis Pizza in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida while recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2021.
– Yankees reliever Devin Williams says it took time to adjust going from Milwaukee to New York, where he was 0-2 with a 11.25 ERA when he lost his closer’s job. He’s getting back to being the same dominant reliever he was in Milwaukee, permitting no more than one hit in his last 11 games, yielding a 0.97 ERA.
“I’m really enjoying the city now, and getting used to everything,’ said Williams, who lives in Manhattan and has loved visiting museums on his off-days.
– Remember the days slugger Kyle Schwarber struggled against left-handed pitchers and would even be benched? He had a slash line of .188/.328/.430 against lefties in 2023.
These days, he’s slashing .317/.456/.794 against lefties.
– The Arizona Diamondbacks are 234-4 in games in their franchise history when they score at least 11 runs. Three of those defeats have come in a four-week span.
– The Phillies believed they were getting a good pitcher when they acquired starter Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins in the offseason, but who could have imagined that he’d be 5-0 with a 1.95 ERA through 10 starts?
“It’s been a struggle at times in my career but I think a little change of scenery at times is great,’ Luzardo told reporters after his last start. “Just a breath of fresh air being around a good group of guys here. Nothing against the places I’ve been, it’s just a little different here.’
– A year ago, Padres GM A.J. Preller found a bargain by signing Jurickson Profar to a one-year, $1 millioon contract. He hit .280 with 24 homers and 85 RBI and made the All-Star team.
This year, Preller’s steal is Gavin Sheets, who is hitting .283 with six home runs and a .464 slugging percentage.
– The Seattle Mariners are about to get the band back together with the return of George Kirby, and Bryce Miller and Logan Gilbert expected to soon follow.
Certainly, with the fourth-best offense in the league, they have the potential to pull away from the pack in the AL West.
– Future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera, 42, retired after the 2023 season but he can’t stay away, announcing that he will play this winter for the Tigres de Aragua in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. He last played in Venezuela in 2007-08.
“He wants to play, he wants to coach,’ Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters. “He’s going to be good at either, but I think it’s really cool that he recognizes his place in baseball history and is willing to contribute so much in Venezuela, but also here with the Tigers.’’
– Fabulous seeing former Texas Rangers All-Star outfielder Nelson Cruz visiting the Rangers clubhouse at Yankee Stadium. He says his family is slowly starting to heal from the tragedy in Santo Domingo that killed 235 people, including his sister, Nelsy, when the roof at a popular nightclub collapsed.
– Rest in peace Jim Henneman, a fixture in the Baltimore Orioles press box who covered more Orioles’ home games than any sportswriter since their arrival in 1954, and a friend to so many writers.
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