ESPN News Services2 minutes to read
Texas Rangers witty Jacob DeGrum General Manager Chris Young announced Tuesday that his ulnar collateral ligament will be out indefinitely after undergoing surgery.
The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner has not pitched since April 28, when he struck out early against the New York Yankees due to injury concerns for the second time in a stint of three starts. The announcement of the surgery came a day after DeGromme was moved to the 60-day injured list.
Young said the most recent MRI showed more inflammation and significant structural damage that were not present on the scan after DeGrume’s exit from the game against the Yankees.
Young did not specify if deGrom will have Tommy John surgery or another procedure to repair his UCL.
“This stinks,” said an emotional deGrume, according to the Dallas Morning News. “It’s not perfect. But we know what it is now at least. I want to fix it and will set a goal to be back before the end of next year.”
The Rangers signed DeGrom to a 5-year, $185 million free agency after he played his first nine major league seasons with the team. New York Mets. He was limited by injuries to 156 1/3 innings pitched over 26 starts his last two years in New York.
DeGrom had Tommy John surgery in 2010 during his rookie year.
DeGrom had a career-low 1.08 ERA over 92 innings during the 2021 season before missing the final three months with right forearm tightness and an elbow sprain. He didn’t make his first major league start last year until August 2 after he was shut down late in spring training due to a stress reaction in his right shoulder.
Texas won all six games DeGrum started (2-0), but the right-hander pitched only 30 1/3 innings. He has a 2.67 ERA with 45 strikeouts and four walks. He threw 3 and 2/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees before leaving that game due to discomfort in his arm.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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