![]() Among the 89 pitchers with at least 500 innings pitched over the same span, the FIP gap between deGrom (2.11) and second-place pitcher Max Scherzer (2.82) is roughly as large as the gap between Scherzer and 20th-place Sonny Gray (3.54). He still leads all pitchers in FanGraphs WAR dating back to the beginning of 2018, despite ranking only 34th in innings pitched. His 1.08 ERA and 1.24 FIP in 2021 were the lowest in the live ball era (minimum 90 innings pitched). In his breakout 2018 season, when he won the first of back-to-back Cy Young Awards, deGrom amassed 9.0 pitching WAR, per FanGraphs from 2021 through 2023, in the same number of starts (32) and 30 1/3 fewer innings, he racked up 8.5. (In 2020, when he avoided the IL, he dealt with back tightness, neck tightness, and a sore hamstring.) This season started with more of the same: side tightness in spring training, wrist soreness that ended his April 17 start after four no-hit innings, and, finally, the forearm discomfort that forced him to leave his April 28 start in the fourth, following a final fastball and slider that didn’t travel at their usual peerless pace.Īmid all the injuries, deGrom remained the majors’ best starter on a per-inning basis. Not only did he miss most of the 20 seasons while on the IL, but he rarely went long between day-to-day ailments that got him scratched or pulled prematurely from starts even when he was active. Hitters rarely appeared to pose a threat to him, but his own body regularly betrayed him. So let’s consider what this long-dreaded diagnosis means for deGrom’s career and legacy, the first-place Rangers, MLB’s larger injured-pitchers problem, and the title of baseball’s best arm.įor the past two years, deGrom has been an agonizing, tantalizing blend of dominance and fragility. Now that the predictable-but-still-disappointing torn-UCL scenario has come to pass, it’s time to ask hard questions. We can and should be bummed about deGrom’s injury, but we can’t say we weren’t warned. The five-year, $185 million contract he signed with Texas last winter wasn’t insured, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported, because the premiums would have been “prohibitively expensive.” Instead, the contract included a conditional option for 2028 that could be triggered if deGrom underwent Tommy John surgery (or sustained any long-lasting elbow or shoulder injury) from 2023 to 2026. The soon-to-be 35-year-old, who had Tommy John surgery after his first professional season in 2010, has made seven trips to the injured list as a big leaguer, including three previous stints for elbow- or forearm-related ailments. The reigning best pitcher in baseball-say it with me: when healthy-has a busted UCL and won’t be back in action until late 2024, if not 2025. On Tuesday, Dallas Morning News reporter Evan Grant broke the news that deGrom is broken. For them, the road to UCL surgery is paved with possible precursors. Other hurlers, like Rangers righty Jacob deGrom, are walking warnings from the surgeon general that throwing baseballs hard may be hazardous to your health. In Garcia’s case, the only sign of impending doom was his position: pitcher. Less than three weeks later, he had Tommy John surgery. He felt pain in his elbow after his fifth pitch, threw three more, and then exited the game. ![]() ![]() Last month, 26-year-old Houston Astros righty Luis Garcia, who had never been on the injured list in either the majors or the minors, started against the Giants following back-to-back scoreless outings. Some elbows blow out before the “check ligament” light comes on. Just as there aren’t always foreshocks before big earthquakes, there aren’t always velocity losses, muscle strains, or ominous MRIs before baseball players tear their ulnar collateral ligaments.
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