3 former Mets failing miserably on their new teams

1. Jacob deGrom has been dealing for the Rangers, but health issues are already cropping up

Make absolutely no mistake about it, Jacob deGrom has been his normal dominant self when he’s been on the mound for the Texas Rangers this season after signing a massive five-year, $185 million deal to leave the Mets this offseason.

Over six starts in the Lone Star State, deGrom has a 2.67 ERA and minuscule 0.76 WHIP while striking out an absurd 45 batters and walking only four over 30.1 innings pitched. When he’s been out there, he’s been exactly what the Rangers hoped they were paying for in free agency to get the big fish: An ace.

So why are we saying he’s failing in Texas?

It all comes down to health. deGrom is currently on the 15-day IL with inflammation in his right elbow. This comes after he missed a large portion of the spring with an injury as well.

Whenever the Rangers handed out that lucrative contract to the right-hander, the big concern for everyone was his injury history. After all, the now-34-year-old isn’t a spring chicken out there and had pitched in just 26 games over the previous two seasons in New York. As such, it was a risky gamble for Texas to hand out that kind of money for five years given that him staying healthy was not guaranteed.

As such, for deGrom to have landed on the IL and already been slowed down by two injuries in 2023 as the calendar just turns to May has to have every Rangers fan and everyone in the organization feeling a bit of panic. Yes, he’s great when he’s on the bump — but if health is already an issue, how much faith is there that things are going to get better as he gets older?