How the New York media overreacted to Jacob deGrom’s injury, explained

Texas Rangers ace Jacob deGrom was injured on the first day of spring training, and the media ran with it. Yes, that includes us.

Jacob deGrom’s injury history is a long and complicated one. In his last three seasons, he’s made just 12, 15 and 11 starts respectively. Yet, Texas paid him $185 million this offseason off potential alone.

When deGrom does pitch, he is the best in the game. That’s a fact which is hard to argue.

Chris Young and the Rangers are betting on deGrom’s health, which already suffered a slight setback on the first day of spring training. Young stressed that deGrom was removed from his Texas debut due to an abundance of caution. But, as we’ve learned with deGrom, nothing should be taken for granted. FanSided’s Scott Rogust laid out the dilemma in his article:

"“Jacob deGrom was one of the most intriguing free agents on the market this past season. While this past season he showed that he was his usual dominant self, he did deal with a multitude of injuries over the past couple of years. That didn’t scare away the Texas Rangers, who are looking to make a run to the postseason, as they handed deGrom a five-year, $185 million contract. With that, deGrom is their undisputed ace.”"

New York media ran with Jacob deGrom’s injury

We were hardly alone in our harsh assessment of deGrom’s injury, while also noting that it was nothing more than a minor tweak. For most players, that wouldn’t be major news. But deGrom is not most players.

A column from Jon Heyman, headlined ‘Nolan Ryan-esque Justin Verlander is anti-Jacob deGrom’, paints a grim picture. It should be noted that editors typically choose headlines, not the writer themselves.

“While this was all reported at the Rangers’ spring home in Surprise, Ariz., it’s about the least surprising bit of news you will read all spring,” Heyman wrote.

Later in the column, the MLB insider got more direct, stating: “Throwing a ball is what deGrom may do better than anyone ever has. Yet, he does it fairly infrequently, fashioning a career as the highest-priced part-time pitcher going.”

He went on to juxtapose deGrom’s debut with Verlander’s. However, the 40-year-old JV has his own injury woes, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in the last few years. Max Scherzer is getting up there in age as well.

The New York Daily News, meanwhile, took a shot at deGrom’s injury with the quote ‘In Amazin Form’ on the back page.

Isn’t this all a little excessive for a player who left the Mets this offseason? By no means am I suggesting the Post and Daily News shouldn’t do their job, but in the end deGrom suffered a minor injury.

As we all know, it likely won’t be the last time.