Five Pitchers Who Could Bounce Back Big From Injury in 2025

These days, MLB pitchers are more talented and dominant than they’ve ever been. Strikeout rates and average pitch velocities are as high as they’ve ever been, even if that has come at the cost of shorter outings for starters.

Of course, with the rise of the MLB pitcher has come the rise of MLB pitcher injuries. As pitchers continue to throw harder and faster, and with crazier movement for that matter, the extra strain and torque on their arms have led straight to the injured list for many of the league’s top hurlers.

The data backs it up. Last month, MLB released a report on pitcher injuries in which they interviewed over 200 experts on the subject. Among other things, it showed that MLB pitcher IL placements have more than doubled over the last 20 years alone.

Around a thousand of those placements took place in 2023 and 2024. Many of those pitchers have since returned to the field, but some are still working their way back from injury.

Every new season offers a chance for pitchers who recently suffered major injuries to author a classic comeback story. Here are five pitchers who have a good chance to do exactly that in 2025.

Jacob deGrom, Texas Rangers

Many pitchers struggle to successfully rebound from one major injury. Two or more? You can almost certainly forget about it. But if anyone has shown that they can come back from any injury thrown their way so far, it’s the Rangers’ Jacob deGrom.

The 36-year-old deGrom has seen long IL stints due to forearm tightness, a stress reaction in his shoulder, and Tommy John surgery, which he has undergone twice now after his most recent procedure in 2023. And yet, he keeps coming back for more.

His most recent injury caused him to be shut down just six starts into the 2023 season. And he wouldn’t return until the final month of 2024.

But that return showed once again why the former NL Rookie of the Year and three-time Cy Young winner is one of the best pitchers around when healthy. In three short starts to end the year last September, deGrom gave up just two runs in 10.2 innings on 11 hits and a walk while striking out 14.

And the stuff still looked quite good. Yes, the velocity on his pitches was down a mile an hour or two across the board, which is to be expected after Tommy John surgery, but the spin rates were consistent with previous seasons according to pitch data on Baseball Savant.

After a disappointing 2024 follow-up to their 2023 World Series season, the Rangers will be pumped to have deGrom leading the staff again in 2025. And if there’s anyone who can show that his injury is officially in the rearview, it’s him.

Shane McClanahan, Tampa Bay Rays

The Rangers ace isn’t the only pitcher looking to bounce back after the second Tommy John surgery of their career. Not only is Rays ace Shane McClanahan in the same boat, but he had his second such surgery before he even hit the age of 27.

After a strong rookie campaign in 2021 that saw him finish second in AL Rookie of the Year voting, McClanahan stepped up his game the following season. He would put up a stellar 2.54 ERA and 0.926 WHIP in 28 starts, earn his first All-Star nod, and finish sixth in AL Cy Young voting.

McClanahan wouldn’t be quite as dominant the following season, but would still be one of the top pitchers in the AL and make a second consecutive All-Star Game. Not long after that, though, his season would take a brutal turn.

After he left an August 2 game against the Yankees early due to forearm tightness, it was announced that the Rays starter would need to undergo his second Tommy John surgery. Not only would it knock him out for the rest of 2023, it would erase his entire 2024 season as well.

Luckily, McClanahan seems to be all systems go for 2025. In a piece for MLB.com last September, Rays beat writer Adam Berry spoke with the pitcher who had successfully thrown live batting practice and was optimistic for the upcoming season.

Having two Tommy John surgeries is never ideal, but if it’s going to happen, it’s best to get it over with while still young when the body can better recover. That’s just one reason why McClanahan has a great chance to bounce back strong in 2025.

Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins

We continue with the trend of team aces who missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. In this case, at least it was this pitcher’s first time suffering this particular injury.

Sandy Alcantara has been a mainstay in the Marlins starting rotation since being traded to Miami as part of the Marcell Ozuna deal in 2017. In 2022, he not only graduated to staff ace with a 2.28 ERA in 32 starts, he also won the NL Cy Young Award that season.

Alcantara has been one of the few starting pitchers to throw extended outings in an era when starters throw fewer and fewer innings. He has led his league in complete games and shutouts in three of the last six seasons.

That includes the 2023 season, which was tragically cut short for Alcantara. He was placed on the IL with arm discomfort after a September 3 start against the Nationals. While he attempted to return, he had a rehab start end early and ultimately headed down the Tommy John route like so many of his pitching brethren.

Like McClanahan, Alcantara made good progress toward his return to the mound late last year. Reports were that the 29-year-old righty was hitting the high 90s in a live BP session last September.

Even with the Marlins in fire sale mode this offseason, it appears most likely that Alcantara will start the 2025 season in Miami. If that’s the case, then at least the Marlins will have something fun to cheer for in the form of a bounce-back season from their ace.

Jeffrey Springs, Oakland A’s

It’s hard enough to lose one super-talented starter to Tommy John surgery. It’s almost unheard of to see it happen to two top-flight starters on the same team in the same season.

That’s exactly what happened to the Rays back in 2023. Before the aforementioned McClanahan was lost for the season that year, fellow starter Jeffrey Springs suffered the same fate after a shortened outing in a mid-April start against the Red Sox.

It was an unfortunate turn of events for a Tampa Bay rotation that was set to be dominant that year. As McClanahan had emerged, Springs had also made a name for himself after landing with the third organization of his career. His 2022 season rivaled his teammates, as he had a 2.46 ERA and 1.071 WHIP in 33 outings (25 starts).

Similarly to deGrom, Springs returned in late 2024 to make a handful of starts for his team. He was able to make seven starts, putting up a 3.27 ERA over 33 innings. His final start was also his best, as he gave up a run on four hits and two walks over six innings.

While McClanahan attempts his bounce back in Tampa, Springs will be looking to do the same thousands of miles away. The latter starter was traded to the A’s this offseason, sending him from the East Coast to the West Coast.

Springs will head up a new look A’s rotation that also includes fellow offseason acquisition Luis Severino. It may come in front of a smaller home crowd in Sacramento (the A’s temporary home), but he’ll look to parlay a strong return in 2024 into a big comeback in 2025.

Brandon Woodruff, Milwaukee Brewers

With the Brewers set to host a Wild Card matchup against the Diamondbacks in 2023, the team got some horrible news. One of their co-aces was not only going to miss that series but a lot more time as well.

Brandon Woodruff, arguably Milwaukee’s most reliable starter over his most recent five seasons with a 2.93 ERA from 2019-23, missed a huge chunk of that 2023 campaign due to a shoulder injury. He would return late that same season only to have that same shoulder sideline him once again.

This time he needed shoulder capsule surgery, which he underwent in October of that year. As a result, he was likely to miss the 2024 season, and the Brewers ended up non-tendering him in November of ’23.

But that wouldn’t be all for his future in Milwaukee. The team would actually sign him to a two-year contract later that same offseason with most of the money backloaded into the 2025 season when Woodruff was expected to return.

Now that the 2025 season is approaching, the 31-year-old is indeed on track to make his triumphant return to the rotation.

In a recent conversation with MLB.com Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy, Woodruff talked about how he is throwing bullpen sessions and is prepared to fight to be ready to make the Opening Day roster.

Woodruff’s injury is a tough one for pitchers to successfully bounce back from, but the Brewers have enough faith that he can do it, so much so that they financially committed to that belief. All that’s left now is for their ace to prove he can do it on the mound.