All of the talk of Jacob deGrom’s free agency this past offseason took one singular shape: yes, he’s the best pitcher in baseball when healthy, but how healthy will he be?
In response to that question the Texas Rangers went far above and beyond what most teams were comfortably willing to offer deGrom, who absolutely deserved a huge contract, but five years and $185 million was a big surprise. I’m sure the Rangers knew deGrom would miss some time. There was a risk-reward calculus they were doing, and theirs just looked a little different from most.
Still, I don’t think they were expecting to absorb THIS much risk almost immediately. Jacob deGrom is having Tommy John surgery:
deGrom had been on the IL since late April with what was described as inflammation in the elbow, diagnosed after he dealt with forearm tightness. Sometimes, it’s worse than that.
Hopefully deGrom can have a successful surgery and rehab process, but he’s going to be out for a long time. Baseball is worse for that. And obviously it stings for the Rangers, who’ve really broken out this year.
deGrom, 35 later this month, had Tommy John surgery over a decade ago, and obviously returned to tremendous success. Having the surgery a second time, at an older age, is always tougher. It’s fair to wonder just how effective deGrom will be when he returns late next year – if then – knowing the shoulder issues he’s had, and knowing that his effectiveness was reliant on overwhelming velocity and pinpoint command.
It will be noted that deGrom reportedly had a partially-torn UCL back in 2021, which the Mets seemed to suggest healed itself very quickly, and/or he pitched through it (the situation was never entirely clear). At that time, it didn’t sound like Tommy John surgery was on the table, and obviously deGrom came back to pitch in 2022 (albeit after dealing with a whole other set of arm issues).
It sucks that this happened. It really sucks.