Pitchers And Catchers Just Reported To Spring Training, And Remarkably, Jacob deGrom May Already Be Hurt

Jacob deGrom was one of the prized free agent targets of the MLB offseason.

deGrom had an outstanding run with the New York Mets, putting together stretches as dominant as any pitcher in the league.

His 2018 season, in particular, was astonishingly good. He had just a 1.70 ERA and accumulated 9 WAR, according to Fangraphs. Since that point, when healthy, his average fastball velocity has only increased, despite moving into his early-30's.

Although that's been the biggest problem with deGrom over the past few seasons; "when healthy."

The Rangers didn't seem to be too concerned with his injury problems, signing him to a 5-year, $185 million to anchor their rotation. And he seemed thrilled to be out of New York, for any number of reasons.

READ: DID JACOB DEGROM LEAVE NEW YORK BECAUSE OF COVID MANDATES?

Except, on the first day of pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, deGrom may have already suffered yet another injury.

Whoops!

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 7: Jacob deGrom #48 of the New York Mets reacts walking to the dugout in the sixth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers during game one of a doubleheader at Citi Field on July 7, 2021 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Mets won 4-3. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

Injury Problems Continue for deGrom

The list of deGrom's injuries over the past few years is, well...extensive, to say the least.

And even that list buries the lede of how severe some of these injuries actually were. His 2021 arm injuries essentially caused him to miss an entire season.

deGrom didn't make a start for the Mets for 13 months, from July 2021 to August 2022.

While the Rangers are obviously downplaying the injury, it's not a great sign that he's already had a setback, just one day into camp.

It's notoriously difficult for pitchers to stay healthy, especially ones who throw as hard as deGrom does. But given his, shall we say, track record of fragility, it wouldn't be surprising if Rangers fans were immediately concerned about their expensive ace.

With about six weeks before the start of the regular season, he has enough time to recover. Especially if it is really only precautionary. But if "cold weather" is enough to keep him down, the Rangers better hope they don't have postseason games in Boston or New York next season.

Even that's assuming deGrom is back healthy in time to get the Rangers to the playoffs in the first place. Don't hold your breath.