Texas Rangers Injury-Plagued Veteran Has Path to Cy Young Award Contention

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom has put together one of the more unique careers in recent memory.

During his tenure as a New York Met from 2014-22, deGrom was in the conversation for most dominant pitcher of the century. He won back-to-back Cy Young awards in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, deGrom posted an astonishing 1.70 ERA, which is the second-lowest mark for a qualifying starting pitcher since the turn of the century.

The talent has always been there, but luck has not really been deGrom's ally. Even during that historic 2018 season, where he also posted a 9.6 WAR, deGrom only went 10-9 in the win-loss column. As Met fans no doubt remember, few, if any premium pitchers have had a more bizarre relationship with run support than deGrom did in New York.

Then there are the injuries, of which there have been many potential career derailers. In October of 2010, a mere four months after the Mets drafted him in the ninth round, he underwent Tommy John surgery.

Then in 2016, he had a season-ending procedure on the ulnar nerve in his elbow. Fast forward to mid-season of 2021, where deGrom left back-to-back starts early with minor concerns on his arm. A month later, he went on IL with forearm tightness that he resulted in him missing the rest of the season.

In 2022, his last campaign with the Mets, deGrom missed most of the year due to a stress reaction in his shoulder suffered in spring training.

Then the Rangers signed deGrom in 2023, where he went on the injured list in April with elbow inflammation. In June, he underwent Tommy John surgery for the second time, bringing his first season with the team to a premature end. Texas won the World Series that year, even without deGrom.

Recovery kept deGrom out for most of 2024, but he came back late posting a 1.69 ERA in 10.2 innings over three games. Not only was his ERA extremely low over those three starts, but he struck out 14 batters with a 1.13 WHIP. That short stint brings hope to deGrom's 2025 prospects.

It's not common for soon to be 37-year-old pitchers like deGrom to return to his peak performance, but it's not unprecedented.

Atlanta's Chris Sale came off a six-year run without a full season to win his first Cy Young at 35 years of age. Sale didn't have quite the extensive injury history as deGrom did, but that six-year window of injury-reduced playing time is at least comparable to what deGrom has gone through.

R.A. Dickey won the award in 2012 at 38-years-old. Dickey was a knuckleballer, rather than a pitcher built on a traditional, dominant repertoire like deGrom, but the point stands — there is precedent for an aging pitching to win the Cy Young award.

Texas as a whole had a down, injury-riddled 2024 campaign as defending champs. If the Rangers are going to make any noise in 2025, it would go a long way if deGrom was in the Cy Young conversation down the stretch.