Rangers' Jacob deGrom to undergo Tommy John surgery on elbow

Texas Rangers ace Jacob deGrom received a devastating Tommy John surgery update on Tuesday on his injured elbow

Jacob deGrom continues to have the worst injury luck in the majors, as the Texas Rangers ace will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.

This will be the second time that deGrom, 34, will undergo Tommy John surgery in his career, as he went under the knife during his rookie season with the New York Mets.

Jacob deGrom's injury timeline

The ace starter hasn't pitched for the Rangers since April, when he exited a start against the New York Yankees after experiencing right forearm tightness. The Rangers then placed deGrom on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation.

deGrom had begun to work his way back from the elbow injury, as he threw 31 pitches in a bullpen session in May, with Rangers manager Bruce Bochy saying that he “felt fine” coming out of it. The two-time Cy Young Award winner had last thrown this past Wednesday before he returned home to Florida for the birth of his third child.

deGrom was expected to return to throwing off of a mound this week, but it was not to be, as the Rangers moved him to the 60-day IL on Monday night. General manager Chris Young noted it wasn't a setback but added that the elbow injury wasn't improving as quickly as they hoped. Now, the results of deGrom's latest MRI confirm that his season is, unfortunately, over.

Despite a history that includes multiple elbow, forearm and shoulder injuries, the Rangers inked deGrom to a five-year, $185 million contract this offseason. deGrom was excellent for Texas when healthy, as he pitched to a 2.67 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 30 1/3 innings pitched across six starts in 2023.

As good as deGrom- career 2.53 ERA- has been, it's hard to ignore the fact that he has failed to pitch at least 100 innings for a third straight season. It's brutal for the Rangers, who own the second-best record in the big leagues, to lose deGrom for the season. What's perhaps even more concerning, however, is the fact that deGrom, poor injury history and all, is only getting older.