9:04 PM ET

“We’re playing it smart. Could I have kept going? Probably. But it was lingering and it got a little bit worse as the game went on. I just want to play it safe. We’ve got a long season ahead of us.”

DeGrom is 1-0 with a 3.48 ERA this season.

“I’m honestly not too concerned,” deGrom said. “I would like to think I’ll make my next [start], but we’ll see how it is tomorrow.”

DeGrom signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the Rangers this offseason after a decorated tenure with the Mets. Injuries, though, have been a problem for the 34-year-old. He missed the first four months of last season with a stress reaction in his shoulder, and injuries had limited him to 224? innings over the past three seasons entering 2023.

He also had a minor setback at the start of the spring after feeling some tightness on his left side.

Texas manager Bruce Bochy said there’s concern any time you have to take a player out of a game because of injury, but he’s optimistic.

“We’ll reevaluate him tomorrow,” Bochy said. “Any time you take somebody out, that’s a fair question. I think I can answer it better tomorrow. Right now, I feel pretty good about it.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.