Texas Rangers Jacob deGrom is out for the season due to surgery.
MLB.com announced on the 7th (hereinafter Korean time) that ‘Jacob deGrom will undergo surgery to reconstruct ligaments in his right elbow, the Rangers club announced.’ It wasn’t specified whether it was surgery or another surgery, but any surgery would result in deGrom’s season being out.”스포츠토토
DeGrom voluntarily pitched in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees on April 29 after complaining of sore elbows. The next day, deGrom, who was placed on the 15-day injured list (IL), was transferred to the 60-IL on the 6th after being diagnosed that his condition did not improve in the recent re-examination to prepare for a return program.
“It’s the worst situation,” deGrom told the Dallas Morning News. “I never thought of it. But this is the reality. I’m going to get treated and rehabilitate properly and be back before the start of next season.”
Texas signed a free agency contract with deGrom last winter for five years and $185 million (approximately 241.8 billion won) and secured the first starter. However, he started getting into trouble early in the season and ended up needing surgery. If you get Tommy John surgery, you will have to stick to rehabilitation until next summer.
He pitched in 6 games this season and threw 30 1/3 innings, recording 2 wins, 2.67 ERA, 45 strikeouts, 0.76 WHIP, and 0.171 batting average. A healthy deGrom is ‘invincible’.
DeGrom underwent Tommy John surgery after the 2010 minor league season with the New York Mets. It was in 2014 when he made his major league debut.
It was in 2018, when he won his first Cy Young Award, that deGrom rose to the ranks of the best starting pitcher in the majors. That year, he recorded 10-9 in 32 games, an earned run average of 1.70, 269 strikeouts, and an ERA + 218, standing tall as the top 1 starter at once from the 3 starters. It was thanks to his fastball average velocity rapidly increasing to 96 mph. In 2019, he went 11-8 with a 2.42 earned run average and 255 strikeouts, winning the NL ranking for the second consecutive year. At that time, Ryu Hyun-jin ranked second in the Cy Young Award voting.
However, deGrom embarked on a lengthy rehab after leaving with an arm injury in July 2021. Last year, before the season, he had a shoulder bone stress reaction, so he went back to the IL and had to fight the injury until the end of July.
On August 3 of last year, he made a thrilling comeback against the Washington Nationals and showed off his strength by posting 5 wins and 4 losses, an average ERA of 3.08 and 102 strikeouts, and terminated his existing contract with the Mets and entered the free agency market with Texas, earning an average annual salary of 3700. He was given a five-year contract worth $10,000.