Rangers ace Jacob DeGrom will have surgery on a torn UCL

Texas Rangers general manager Jacob DeGrum has torn his right ulnar ligament and will be out indefinitely after undergoing surgery, general manager Chris Young announced Tuesday.

The two-time National League Cy Young Award winner has not pitched since April 28, when he struck out early against the New York Yankees due to an injury concern for the second time in a stint of three starts. The announcement of the surgery came a day after DeGrum was moved to the 60-day injured list with a sore elbow.

Young said the most recent MRI showed more inflammation and significant structural damage that were not present on the scan after DeGrume’s exit from the game against the Yankees.

Young did not specify if deGrom will have Tommy John surgery or another procedure to repair his UCL.

“This stinks,” said an emotional deGrume, according to the Dallas Morning News. “It’s not perfect. But we know what it is now at least. I want to fix it and will set a goal to be back before the end of next year.”

The Rangers signed deGrum to a five-year, $185 million free agency deal after playing his first nine major league seasons with the New York Mets. He was injury-limited to 156½ over 26 innings starts his last two years in New York.

DeGrom, 34, had Tommy John surgery in 2010 during his rookie year.

DeGrom had a career-low 1.08 ERA over 92 innings during the 2021 season before missing the final three months with a tight right forearm and a sprained elbow. He didn’t make his first major league start last year until August 2 after he was locked out late in spring training due to a stress reaction in his right shoulder.

Texas won all six games DeGrum started (2-0), but the right-hander only hit 30 ⁄ innings. He has a 2.67 ERA with 45 strikeouts and four walks. He threw 3⅔ scoreless innings against the Yankees before leaving that game due to discomfort in his arm.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.