Rangers ace and prized offseason signing Jacob deGrom will undergo Tommy John surgery and the pitcher was emotional in his first time addressing the injury.
On Tuesday, news broke that Jacob deGrom, who signed a monster five-year, $185 million contract with the Texas Rangers this offseason, would have to undergo Tommy John surgery. Though the severity of his injury or the specifics of the surgery aren't yet known, deGrom will be out for a minimum of 12 months.
In the wake of the news and ahead of the Rangers' game on Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals, deGrom spoke with the media and addressed the injury and subsequent surgery.
The 34-year-old who turns 35 in just under two weeks broke down as he spoke about knowing what it takes to recover from the surgery having undergone it once before in his career and while expressing how badly he wishes he could be on the field and helping out his team.
Jacob deGrom breaks down addressing Tommy John surgery
Health has been an issue for deGrom even prior to his arrival in Arlington as he was limited to just 26 games over the previous two seasons combined with the Mets. He started just six games for the Rangers, his last coming on April 28 before he was shut down and had been trying to come back to the mound.
It remains to be seen what the Rangers will do in the wake of the surgery news, particularly with the trade deadline approaching as they could be one of several teams who now are in the market for pitching. In the long run, though, they would hope that they can eventually get deGrom back in the fold, so they may just be looking for a short-term option.
Given his elite ability when healthy, it's hard to imagine the emotions that deGrom is experiencing, especially for a contender in Texas as Texas entered play on Tuesday with a 3.5 game lead in the AL West and the second-best record in the American League behind only the Rays.
Though injuries on the back end of his 30s are not comforting for the Rangers in any capacity, he clearly sounds highly motivated to put in all of the work necessary to return and return at a star level once again. After seeing his reaction to the news on Tuesday evening, it's hard not to be rooting for that.
