Texas Rangers ace, former Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom set for second Tommy John Surgery

The Texas Rangers announced disappointing news about ace Jacob deGrom on Tuesday, revealing that deGrom is set to undergo a second Tommy John surgery for a torn UCL.

DeGrom first underwent Tommy John surgery when he was in the minor leagues in 2010, before suffering another setback this season.

He hasn’t pitched since April 28 due to injury concerns and was not recovering as quickly as was hoped.

“This stinks,” deGrom said after getting the disanosis, according to the Dallas Morning News. “It’s not ideal. But at least we know what it is now. I want to get it fixed and will set a goal to be back before the end of next year.”

DeGrom went 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA this year, prior to being sidelined. He struck out 45 batters in 30 1/3 innings and had a WHIP of 0.76.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner signed a five-year deal with the Rangers this offseason. He is set to make $185,000,000 over the life of the contract.

DeGrom established himself as one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball during an impressive nine-season run with the Mets.

Last season, deGrom was 5-4 with a 3.08 ERA. He struck out 102 batters in 64 1/3 innings in 2022. For his MLB career, deGrom has a 2.53 ERA and 0.99 WHIP.

The Rangers are currently 39-20 and in first place in the AL West, although losing deGrom for the season is without a doubt a tough blow.

Albert Pujols joining MLB front office as Special Assistant to the Commissioner

In other MLB news, MLB legend Albert Pujols is joining MLB’s front office as a Special Assistant to the Commissioner, according to Front Office Sports.

In this new role, Pujols is going to act as an advisor on player relations and other topics. That’s huge, given the tense relationship that many players have with the league following the lockout ahead of the 2022 baseball season.

Among the other topics that Albert Pujols will advise the league about are issues relating to the Dominican Republic. That’s Pujols’ home country and produces plenty of MLB talent with frequency. That includes superstar players Juan Soto and Rafael Devers.

Pujols started his career with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he became one of the best players in all of baseball. He spent a decade there, winning the World Series twice, before signing a 10-year $54 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels. He wasn’t quite able to maintain his dominant play there but continued as one of the game’s best power hitters.

In 2022, he returned to the St. Louis Cardinals in what was expected to be his final season. He was 21 home runs away from 700 but hadn’t hit that many in a season since 2019. It seemed like a stretch until he caught on fire and ended the season with 24 home runs. That was good for 703 for his career.