Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers are once again facing the prospect of a big bet failing. Right-hander Jacob deGrom, a $185 million acquisition last winter, has been declared out for the season with an elbow injury.
Texas announced on Sunday that DeGrom will undergo surgery to repair a torn medial collateral ligament in his right elbow. It is now clear that he will miss the remainder of the season.
Digrom has pitched 30⅓ innings in six games this season. He got off to a strong start, posting a 2.67 ERA and striking out more than 13 batters per nine innings, but faded from the big league mound for the last time on 29 April against the New York Yankees. Complaining of forearm soreness, he was pulled after just 3⅔ innings.안전놀이터
He appeared to be recovering well enough to pitch out of the bullpen, but ultimately ended up on the operating table. Speaking to local reporters to announce his season-ending injury, he admitted that his form had been up and down over the past month, and that it was difficult to gauge his recovery. As he explained, he became tearful.
The injury concerns were not new. DeGrom spent his previous two seasons with the New York Mets, both of which were marred by injuries. In 2021, he was on pace for an “epic” start but was lost for the season in July as he rounded the bend, and last year he missed a significant portion of the first half due to injury. In both seasons, he threw fewer than 100 innings.
Nevertheless, Texas gave DeGrom a massive five-year, $185 million contract as a free agent last winter. It was a bold move, given the durability question marks and the fact that he was approaching his mid-30s.
The appeal of a healthy DeGrom was great. He made a spectacular late-season big league debut in 2014, winning the National League Rookie of the Year award, and quickly became a key part of the Mets’ rotation. From 2017 to 2019, he pitched over 200 innings for three straight years, including a monster 2018 campaign in which he went 10-9 with a 1.70 ERA. He won two National League Cy Young Awards for his performance.
It’s unclear how DeGrom’s absence will affect Texas’ chances in the standings going forward, but the starting rotation has been consistently solid since his departure. With a 6-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, Texas recorded its 40th win of the regular season. They have won five in a row and are four and a half games ahead of the second-place Houston Astros for the division lead.