Legendary ex-Met's latest injury further complicates his perplexing legacy

Jacob deGrom is the most talented pitcher in baseball history. deGrom has a heater that reaches 102 miles per hour, a wipeout slider and an unhittable changeup. As it stands, the greatest talent to toe the rubber is unlikely to find his way to Cooperstown.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported on Tuesday afternoon that deGrom will undergo Tommy John surgery, the second Tommy John surgery of his career. The Rangers ace will miss the rest of 2023, and the majority, if not all, of 2024.

To quote the oldest sports cliché in the book, "the best ability is availability."

An unfortunate string of injuries throughout deGrom's career has us asking: what would deGrom's legacy be if he remained relatively healthy?

DeGrom could have been remembered as the greatest pitcher of all time. His 2021 season was arguably the best season ever pitched. He posted a preposterous 1.08 ERA, struck out 146 and walked just 11 over the course of 15 starts. deGrom was on track to post the lowest ERA in MLB history, surpassing Bob Gibson's 1.12 mark set in 1968. In early June, deGrom was placed on the injured list with forearm tightness which ended his season. 

Not only was he the best pitcher in the sport in 2021, but he was also an above-average hitter. The former Met ace hit .364 with a 109 OPS+ and six RBIs in 33 plate appearances.  Had he stayed healthy, he would've been the 2021 NL MVP, a rare feat for a pitcher to accomplish. 

DeGrom won the NL CY Young Award in 2018 and 2019 and had a case to win it in the COVID-shortened 2020 season but had his season derailed by minor injuries.

DeGrom currently ranks fifth all-time among pitchers in ERA+, 3rd in K\9 and 47th in WAR. He has many Hall of Fame-level numbers, he just hasn't pitched enough.

The ex-New Yorker has thrown just 1,356.1 innings in his career. That would be the eighth least amount of innings thrown by any Hall of Fame pitcher, relievers included. It would be the least amount thrown by a starting pitcher (a pitcher who started every career game) to be selected to Cooperstown.

In the last 886 days, deGrom has made just 32 starts. During that time frame, deGrom injured his side, elbow, shoulder, forearm and wrist. If deGrom doesn't return until April 2025, he will have started just 32 games in a 1,550-day span.

Had deGrom stayed healthy in New York, he likely would've been a Met for life. In all likelihood, deGrom would have been offered a contract by the Mets similar to what he signed with the Rangers (the Mets reportedly offered him $65 million less). 

His number could've hung in the Citi Field rafters for eternity, and who knows, maybe he would've brought New York a World Series title.

Back to reality, one thing is clear, deGrom's body continually fails him. It's clearly taken a toll on him mentally, as he showed a considerable amount of emotion after Tuesday's diagnosis.