It didn’t take all that long for Jacob deGrom to re-experience the injury bug with his new team, the Texas Rangers.
On the first day of pitchers and catchers officially reporting for spring training, the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner and former Mets great was sidelined “for a day or two” due to left side tightness while throwing a bullpen session earlier in the week, according to Rangers GM Chris Young (h/t Kennedi Landry, MLB.com).
Young attributed the discomfort to the cold weather down in Phoenix, AZ where the Rangers hold spring training. The temperatures in the area have hovered in the 50s since Monday.
While Young implored that the move was just precautionary, deGrom’s injury history suggests that it isn’t so straightforward.
After elbow injuries cut his 2021 season short, he was shut down right before the start of the 2022 season due to a stress reaction in his right scapula. It kept him on the shelf until August while cutting his final season with the Mets to just three months.
Over the previous two seasons, he’s accrued just 26 starts.
Despite the injury history, deGrom was still obviously the most sought-after pitcher on the open market this winter and received a five-year, $185 million contract from the Rangers.
Since the start of the 2018 season, the 34-year-old right-hander is 37-25 with a 2.05 ERA with consecutive Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019.
