An Update on Texas Rangers Ace Jacob deGrom’s Injuries
The Texas Rangers are two victories away from the World Series, and they’re doing it without ace pitcher Jacob deGrom, who has been out with a UCL injury for most of the season. Here’s the latest on the right-hander in rehab.
The Texas Rangers lead the Houston Astros 2-0 in the ALCS, putting them just two wins away from a World Series berth.
The Rangers’ dominance is all the more impressive because they’ve done it without ace pitcher Jacob deGrom, who suffered a UCL injury earlier in the season and made only six starts.
In June, he had Tommy John surgery.
The Rotowire fantasy baseball service has the following update on deGrom:
DeGrom (elbow) told Joel Sherman of the New York Post on Tuesday that he had complete range of motion in his pitching arm.
ANALYSIS
The plan for deGrom, who is just over four months out from Tommy John surgery, is to start throwing early in the new year and progress to mound work during spring training. “My arm feels pretty close to normal already,” he told me. DeGrom hopes to return to the Rangers’ rotation by next August.
There’s a few ways to look at that:
1) Success is not guaranteed in baseball. Just because the Rangers are good this year, does not mean they’ll be good next year. Not having deGrom until August potentially could put them behind the eight ball right away in a deeply talented American League West.
Remember, Max Scherzer is older at this point. Nathan Eovaldi has spent considerable time on the injured list the last few years, and Jordan Montgomery is a free agent. If the rotation’s health goes sideways beyond deGrom – and Montgomery leaves – it could be tough for Texas to replicate success.
2) You could view it this way. The Rangers are already good without deGrom. If he comes back in August of next year, he’ll be there to elevate an already very good team. He’ll be the trade deadline acquisition that the Rangers don’t have to make as they chase another deep playoff run.
deGrom, 34, is one of the best pitchers of his era. He’s won the National League Rookie of the Year (2014), has been to the All-Star Game four times (2015, 2018-19, 2021), has won the National League Cy Young twice (2018-19) and finished in the top 10 in Cy Young voting a total of six times.
