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Injuries continue to mire Texas Rangers starter Jacob deGrom, and his latest is going to knock him out for the remainder of the 2023 season.
According to the Dallas Morning News, deGrom, who was moved to the 60-day IL on Monday, needs elbow surgery to repair a tear to his ulnar collateral ligament in this throwing elbow.
It is unknown whether deGrom needs traditional Tommy John surgery or will have an internal brace. The Dallas Morning News said Dr. Keith Meister, who will be performing the surgery, won’t know the extent of the injury until deGrom is under the knife.
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Jacob deGrom #48 of the Texas Rangers delivers a pitch during a game against the New York Yankees at Globe Life Field on April 28, 2023 in Arlington, Texas. (Bailey Orr/Texas Rangers/Getty Images)
Either way, deGrom is going to be missing at least a full year, so the 2024 season will be impacted as well.
The 35-year-old, as you’d expect, was upset about the diagnosis.
"This stinks," deGrom said, via The Dallas Morning News. "It’s not ideal. But at least we know what it is now. I want to get it fixed and will set a goal to be back before the end of next year."
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DeGrom previously received Tommy John surgery in October 2010 while he was a minor league prospect with the New York Mets. But he’s had a laundry list of injuries since then, which has impacted his career which has still been quite impressive.
DeGrom has won two Cy Young Awards over his 10 years in MLB, both of which came during his time with the Mets. The first was in 2018 when he posted a league-best 1.70 ERA over 217 innings, and set a new precedent for the criteria to win the award as he didn’t have a good win-loss record at 10-9 due to the Mets’ seeming inability to score runs when he was on the mound.
He defended the hardware in 2019, too, posting a 2.43 ERA over 204 innings, while leading MLB in strikeouts with 255.
Jacob deGrom #48 of the Texas Rangers delivers a pitch during a game against the Oakland Athletics at Globe Life Field on April 23, 2023 in Arlington, Texas. (Bailey Orr/Texas Rangers/Getty Images)
DeGrom is a four-time All-Star – his first coming in 2015 and his latest during the 2021 campaign – with a career 2.53 ERA over 1,356.1 innings with 1,652 strikeouts in 215 starts.
There’s no doubt when deGrom’s on the mound, he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball, but his injuries haven’t allowed him consistent starts over the years.
After posting at least 31 starts between 2017-2019, DeGrom has just 44 starts total over the past four seasons. He dealt with hip, back, neck and hamstring issues during the shortened COVID-19 season in 2020.
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There was also constant forearm tightness on his throwing arm that was later revealed by the Mets’ Sandy Alderson to be a partial UCL tear, which did not require surgery but ended his season early in July. DeGrom wasn’t happy when that information came out.
Last season, deGrom was dealing with a shoulder injury that only allowed 11 starts, as he continued to suffer setbacks in his rehabilitation.
Jacob deGrom #48 of the Texas Rangers returns to the dugout after his eleventh strikeout to end the inning during a game against the Oakland Athletics at Globe Life Field on April 23, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. (Bailey Orr/Texas Rangers/Getty Images)
Still, despite all the injury history, the Rangers took a risk on signing him to a five-year, $185 million deal because not only did they need pitching, but he is one of the best in the game when he’s healthy. He had a 2.67 ERA in six starts with them prior to going down with his current ailment.
Now, the Rangers will hold out hope that deGrom, who will be turning 37 next June, will still have what it takes to compete at the highest level.
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In the meantime, the Rangers haven’t really seem fazed with deGrom out of the rotation. They own a 39-20 record, which is good for first in the AL West division right now.