The Rangers broke the bank in order to bring Jacob deGrom to Texas this offseason, taking a chance on the injury-prone ace in free agency. It didn't take long for his injury woes to present themselves with his new team, however.
After reporting to camp for Spring Training, deGrom will reportedly be held back "a day or two" after experiencing some tightness in his left side, according to Levi Weaver of The Athletic.
The Rangers don’t believe the setback is anything overly serious, indicating it was merely a result of the cold weather. Per Weaver, manager Chris Young indicated that had the tightness occurred during the regular season, deGrom would most likely not have missed any time.
Any injury to deGrom, even a slight knock, should be of concern to Rangers fans. The organization shelled out a five-year, $185 million contract to the right-hander in free agency, despite deGrom having pitched a total of just 156.1 innings over the past two seasons.
In 2022, deGrom made just 11 starts for the Mets after missing the first few months of the season with a shoulder injury. He was electric in his return to action, logging 102 strikeouts in 64.1 innings of work, but his availability remains a major area of concern. When healthy, it's impossible to dispute that deGrom is one of the best pitchers in baseball, if not the best.
The Rangers are confident that this is nothing more than a blip on the radar for the two-time Cy Young winner and four-time All-Star, and Young indicated the move was made "out of an abundance of caution."
