HOUSTON – On Saturday, Jacob deGrom will go for a career milestone: His 100th win. 

Will crossing that threshold stamp him a Hall of Famer? 

Probably not. But to manager Skip Schumaker that’s because he believes the Rangers ace has already stamped his way to Cooperstown, milestones or not. Though on the milestone front, he’s got a decent résumé, too, with a pair of Cy Youngs, the best all-time strikeout-to-walk rate and the second best WHIP to Hall of Famer Addie Joss. 

“I see Hall of Famers as one of the most dominant of their era and he has been one of the most dominant of this era,” Schumaker said. “He was the most dominant pitcher early in his career, had some health problems toward in the middle, and then he’s come back and been dominant again later in this career. He’s won a couple of Cy Youngs, I think he’s going to be in the mix for another here, soon. I don’t know the WAR numbers and how they stack up, but in my book, he’s up there with the [Justin] Verlanders and the guys that are the best of this era.”  

DeGrom, who turns 38 next month, doesn’t stack up with some others on the “compilation” stats. He’s going for his 100th win on Saturday. He has only 1,584 innings. He went five years from 2020-24 without making more than 15 starts in a season. 

What is remarkable, however, is that his strikeout-to-walk rate (6.02-to-1) and WHIP (0.910) are better with the Rangers than they were with the New York Mets in what was considered the prime of his career. His ERA with the Rangers (2.82) is right in line with his numbers with the Mets (2.52).  

In his last start, deGrom crossed 1,900 career strikeouts, becoming the second-fastest pitcher in history to reach that threshold behind only Verlander (based on number of starts to accomplish it). The milestones deGrom focuses on are more personal: Making 30 starts a year and contributing to a winning team. 

“You set personal goals throughout the years and you try to accomplish them, but accomplishing those only matters if it helps the team win,” deGrom said. “It’s all based on trying to perform to the best of your ability. To make 30-plus starts and pitching in the postseason, that’s the goal going into each year. If you can accomplish good things along the long way, then it’s cool.” 

And about the debate that is likely to surround his Hall of Fame candidacy, deGrom would prefer to wait for voters to have the full body of his work. As he approaches his 38th birthday, he’s yet to see the end on the horizon for himself. 

“Missing the amount of time I have only makes you want to keep doing this as long as you can,” he said. “I won’t get back those years, when I felt like I was at my best. But I think I can still compete at a pretty high level and want to continue to do that.”