With Jacob deGrom’s injury, it’s a reminder this is the bargain for his brilliance: McCullough

Update: Jacob deGrom was placed on the 15-day injury list with right elbow inflammation.

Jacob deGrom has resided on the precipice of peril for so long that it almost feels like part of the show, a balancing act between brilliance and oblivion, as if every time he picks up a baseball he is dueling less with his opponents and more with his own physical limitations.

The game on Friday evening at Globe Life Park exemplified the paradox of deGrom, the 34-year-old Texas Rangers right-hander’s perpetual flirtation with history and disaster. Every time he takes the mound, you wonder what he might do. Every time he takes the mound, you wonder if you’ll ever see him after this moment, this pitch. On Friday, he retired the first 10 Yankees he faced. He never threw a fastball below 97 mph — until his last heater, a 96.6 mph that Yankees designated hitter Willie Calhoun took for a ball. Calhoun singled on deGrom’s next offering, an 89.4 mph slider.

When deGrom will throw his next pitch is a mystery. It could come next week. It could come next month. It could come next year. Such is the bargain with him.

Because after Calhoun’s hit, deGrom’s body language alarmed Rangers officials. He did not clutch his arm. He did not scream in pain. But his gait developed a hitch as he circled the mound. The slight limp was enough to coax members of the training staff out of the dugout. DeGrom stared at the ground and spoke beneath his glove. Then he exited the game, abbreviating an outing because of injury for the second time in three starts.

The initial diagnosis was ominous. “Forearm tightness” only sounds innocuous: The condition can be a precursor for Tommy John surgery. The damage from the elbow manifests in the forearm, the bodily equivalent of a warning sign that reads: DANGER, 12 TO 15 MONTHS OF REHABILITATION MAY FOLLOW.

Then again, deGrom has stared down this gauntlet before. The list of his ailments during just the past four seasons reads like a cursory introduction to the human anatomy. At various times he has dealt with elbow inflammation, a stress reaction in his scapula, tightness in his forearm, and soreness in his wrist. And that’s just his right arm — the limb that he utilized to win the National League Cy Young award in 2018 and 2019, the limb that flashed enough promise during a truncated 2022 campaign to entice the Rangers to give him a five-year, $185 million contract. His other injuries run the gamut: Spasms in his hamstring, back tightness, neck tightness, tightness in his left side and tightness in his right side.

The latest problem could be something more sinister than the dings and dents that limited deGrom to 156 1/3 innings in 2021 and 2022. Or it could be more of the same. “It’s just a precaution, so we took him out,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told reporters in Arlington. Bochy indicated the organization should have more clarity after an in-depth examination on Saturday.

Texas has taken the safe route several times with deGrom in the early days of this partnership. His spring debut was delayed. He has thrown more than 80 pitches in only two of his six starts. The Rangers do not want to risk deGrom wrecking his arm this early in a five-year pact.

If all fears are realized, if this injury requires an extended stint on the injured list or even surgery, do not shed a tear for Rangers owner Ray Davis; he should be just fine. But for the rest of the Rangers, for Bochy and general manager Chris Young, for a fan base that has stuck around through six consecutive losing seasons — the loss of deGrom would be devastating, robbing the club of a No. 1 starter just as the team flirts with postseason contention.

The Rangers understood the score with deGrom. The team determined it worth the risk while trying to rejuvenate itself after several years as a doormat. Thus far, deGrom has come as advertised. When he pitches, he demonstrates the apex of his profession. His appearances are dazzling but brief. The club has played well around him. Marcus Semien has rebounded after a rocky first year in Texas. Martín Pérez has made 2022 look like less than a late-career fluke. The lineup is deep. The bullpen has been solid. And the Rangers woke up on Saturday morning in a position they had not occupied this late into a season since 2016: First place in the American League West.

The status of deGrom will not be the only factor in whether Texas can maintain this perch. The Astros will have something to say about the matter. But a healthy deGrom — or, at least, a functioning deGrom — would supply the Rangers with an ace capable of overwhelming the best hitters in the world.

DeGrom has not yet had a chance to face Houston as a Ranger. The Astros do not visit Globe Life Park until late June. It is unclear if deGrom will be there. If he is, you can expect him to excel. And you can also expect to watch with bated breath, marveling at the brilliance, wondering if his next pitch will send him into oblivion. Such is the bargain.

(Photo: Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)