Jacob deGrom's first spring training with Rangers delayed by left side tightness
Jacob deGrom's first spring training with the Texas Rangers is already off to a difficult start. General manager Chris Young said Wednesday that the team's new ace will start spring training a few days late due to left side tightness.
Young, who said deGrom felt the tightness during a bullpen session earlier this week, made the decision to hold deGrom back for a few days as a precaution due to the cooler weather they've been experiencing in Arizona. He assured everyone that the team isn't terribly concerned, especially since deGrom would've played through this kind of injury if it were the regular season. He said the Rangers expect deGrom to be ready to go on Opening Day.
Much of what Young said sounded similar to things we heard when deGrom was on the New York Mets. It's just a precaution, he would normally play through it, the weather's too cold for him to get started right, we're not worried about him at all, etc.
But similarity isn't a good thing here. DeGrom spent his last three seasons with the Mets injured. He pitched a total of 224.1 innings from 2020 through 2022, which is almost as much as he pitched in 2018 alone. And every time, the Mets organization would say the same things the Rangers did Wednesday — to the point that Mets fans would expect deGrom to miss significant time the moment the organization said it wasn't concerned.
The Rangers signed deGrom, 34, to a five-year, $185 million contract in December. Prior to that, he'd spent his nine-year career with the Mets, who drafted him in 2010. He won two straight National League Cy Young awards in 2018 and 2019, but his main obstacle thus far has been his health. He hasn't pitched anywhere near an entire season since 2019.
With the 2023 season beginning with left side tightness before the calendar has even turned to March, it feels like the same old story might be starting again.
