It has been nearly six seasons since Jacob deGrom dominated on a baseball mound and looking ahead to the 2025 season, this should be his year finally!
Back in 2019, deGrom won his second straight Cy Young award with the New York Mets and all seemed to be going towards a Hall of Fame career, but after his 2021 first half All Star season, the major struggles began.
The right handed pitcher has had a history of right arm issues dating back to the 2014 MLB season, but it started to effect him more in 2021, when he was shut down for the second half of the year. Then on April 7, 2022, deGrom suffered a stress reaction on his right scapula forcing him out of the rotation until August. He did appear in 11 games down the stretch posting a 5-4 record, with a 3.08 ERA (His highest since the 2017 season).
The writing was on the wall for deGrom, as he was just not the same dominating pitcher and rather than continue to try and revive his career in New York, he chose to become a free agent and seek a new home for the 2023 season.
The Texas Rangers took a chance on the injury-prone former 2-time Cy Young winner, with a 5-year contract. But on April 29, 2023, after just six starts, deGrom was shutdown with right elbow inflammation, and added to the Texas DL. The Deland, Florida native underwent his second Tommy John surgery (First in 2010 as a Mets Minor Leaguer), forcing him to miss his first full season with his new club.
During the 2024 season, deGrom appeared in four minor league rehab starts, posting a .084 ERA through 10.2 innings as he worked his way back to being able to pitch on a big league mound.
Now with a healthy deGrom and the Rangers looking for an Ace, he may just be ready to retake that role.
Mets fans were used to seeing deGrom mow down hitters with a devastating slider and a triple-digit fastball, but there is no telling if he will regain his dominance, but he can still be a great pitcher again and finally give the Rangers fans what they have been waiting for; a full season.
One other thing to look forward to, will be September 12th-14th as the Rangers will be visiting the Mets, and deGrom has a chance to go back home and dominate his old team. That is a sight Rangers fans have been waiting for and maybe secretly Mets fans also, well not the dominating part, but seeing deGrom back on the mound in Queens.
There may be pressure for deGrom to finally have a breakout season and from what it looks like from recent reports, if he produces, there is no reason why he isn’t the MLB Comeback Player of the Year.
