Jacob deGrom was the best pitcher in the world, right until the moment his elbow finally snapped.Right before his 35th birthday, he underwent Tommy John surgery for the second time, a fate that is often a death sentence for a major-league pitcher.

But surprisingly, deGrom found his way back by pitching a little slower, not faster. In 2025, DeGrom’s fastball velocity has averaged 97 mph in 2025—still plenty fast, but no longer at the top of the leaderboard. He has yet to throw a pitch at 100 mph, something he has done 318 times before.
This isn’t an accident. Research has shown that the unending pursuit of velocity is likely the biggest driver of the arm injury epidemic that has plagued baseball over the past decade. The best way to reverse the trend, doctors say, is for pitchers to move away from the “maximum effort” style in favor of a more measured approach that prioritizes location.

Which is exactly what deGrom is doing. His manager described deGrom’s new approach as “a concerted effort to probably dial it down just a touch.” deGrom isn’t relying on power the way he once did. He’s throwing his changeup more often than he has since 2020. He has reintroduced his curveball, a pitch he had largely abandoned earlier in his career. And when he does turn to his fastball, it is 2 mph slower than he has thrown it in the past.

Keywords: Sabbath, Rest, Priorities, Busyness