Rangers’ Pitching Success in 2025 Built in Part on Tommy John Surgery

The Texas Rangers had one of the best pitching staffs in baseball last season and it’s surprising to see how many of them have had Tommy John surgery.

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The Texas Rangers have an MVP in Dr. Keith Meister.

Meister is one of the game’s foremost surgeons who specializes in Tommy John surgery. He’s even pioneered a “hybrid” procedure, per The Dallas Morning News (subscription required). Meister’s procedure takes the traditional reconstruction on a torn ulnar collateral ligament, or UCL, and combines it with a synthetic internal brace suture.

One of the more recent pitchers to have the surgery was Rangers starter Jacob deGrom. He had the procedure in 2023 and returned full-time last season to earn an All-Star Game berth and was named the American League Comeback Player of the Year.

He’s a great resource. Other teams send their pitchers to Dr. Meister for the surgery. The Rangers would rather use him less often. But he’s a great resource for all 30 teams when the procedure is almost inescapable.

Texas Rangers Tommy John Data

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Recently, baseball writer and analyst Jon Roegele combed every MLB pitching staff in 2025. His question? Find every pitcher that was used in the season that, at some point, had Tommy John surgery. That surgery could have been at any time in their life, from youth baseball to the Majors. What he found was startling.

Last season, 39.1% of all Major League pitchers had the surgery at some point in their career. The Rangers didn’t lead the league in pitchers used that had the procedure, but they had their fair share.

The list included Danny Coulombe, Patrick Corbin, Jacob Webb, Nathan Eovaldi, Dane Dunning, Codi Heuer, Luke Jackson, Tyler Mahle, Kumar Rocker, deGrom and Jose Corniell. deGrom and Eovaldi are two pitchers that have had the procedure twice. deGrom had his first while a minor league pitcher with the Mets. Eovaldi had his in high school in Alvin, Texas. Corniell and Rocker had theirs as prospects and Dr. Meister performed both procedures.

The history of Tommy John surgeries didn’t hold the Rangers back last season. The starting staff had one of the best ERAs in baseball and Eovaldi could have won the American League ERA title if he had the innings to qualify. deGrom, Eovaldi and Jack Leiter ­— who has not had the procedure — each had 10 or more wins.

With Corbin and Mahle, at one point the Rangers had four-fifths of a rotation that had the procedure at some point.

Texas’ bullpen ERA was 3.62, the fifth-best rate in baseball.  Combined with the rotation, Texas’ overall ERA was the best in the Majors at 3.47. Coulombe, Webb and Jackson all contributed to that bullpen.

Teams hope their pitchers can avoid the procedure. But last year’s results show the injury is no longer a hindrance to longevity.