The Texas Rangers have announced that starting pitcher Jacob deGrom will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) and miss the remainder of the 2023 season plus an undetermined portion of 2024.
The news came after deGrom was transferred from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list and underwent an MRI for further testing.
“The results of that MRI showed that we have not made progress,” Rangers Executive Vice President and General Manager Chris Young said as he addressed the media Tuesday afternoon. “In fact, we’ve identified some damage to the ligament, and, after consulting with [team physician] Dr. Meister and our medical team, Jacob is electing to have the ligament repaired. He’ll have surgery next week.”
“It’s obviously a tough blow for Jacob [and] certainly for the Rangers, but we do feel this is what is right for Jacob and his career,” Young continued. “We’re confident he’ll make a full recovery. It’s unfortunate, the way things have gone, but nonetheless, we now have clarity and can move forward and prepare to have a healthy Jacob deGrom sometime by the end of next season.”
DeGrom signed a five-year, $185 million contract as a free agent in December and was supposed to help turn around a struggling pitching staff.
The pitching staff has flourished as the team is off to its best 60-game start in franchise history, but deGrom has only made six starts, been on the injured list with “elbow inflammation” since April 29, and has not pitched since April 28.
“It stinks,” deGrom told the media on Tuesday. “You want to be out there. It’s not ideal, but [I want to] get this behind me and give it all I got… The most important thing is this year. These guys, like we’ve said, it’s a special group, and I want to be here rooting them on.”
“Now we know what it is,” he added. “If anything, at least it’s clear… At least this is clear, and we know; get it fixed and work towards coming back.”
This will be the second time deGrom has had Tommy John surgery in his career. He had the first one as a minor leaguer during the 2010 season, missed the following season, but was back for 2012 and went on to have a tremendous nine-year run with the New York Mets.
Dane Dunning has taken his place in the rotation, delivering six quality starts and posting a 5-1 record (3-1 since rejoining the rotation) with a 2.52 ERA this season.
“The rotation’s been really good,” Young analyzed. “I feel very confident with the guys we have; they’ve pitched tremendously well. We’re at the top of the league in terms of our rotation, and most of that has been without Jacob.”
The Rangers are still off to their best start through 60 games in franchise history and continue the season against the St. Louis Cardinals in Arlington at 7:05 p.m. CT on Wednesday.
