Perhaps no team knows Tommy John surgery better than the Texas Rangers.

Sure, Texas rehabbed Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle back from the surgery just this year, but the Rangers’ connection to the famous operation doesn’t fully reside at Globe Life Field.

Most of it comes just 15 minutes away from the Globe at the office of Rangers team physician and world-renowned surgeon Dr Keith Meister.

Despite working with the Rangers, Meister seems to perform nearly every Tommy John surgery across the league, and that number is becoming no small matter.

It seems just about inevitable that every pitcher goes through surgery nowadays with increased velocity and spin rates, so it’s no surprise that pitchers are undergoing the operation earlier and earlier.

With Meister at the helm of an elite sports medicine team, the Rangers have shown they have no problem taking risks on high-potential recovering guys both in the draft and free agency.

That was put on clear display during the first five rounds of the 2025 MLB Draft, in which Texas selected three pitchers, all of whom went through arm issues just this past season.

In the second round, the Rangers took who many feel could be the “steal of the draft,” selecting Tennessee righty AJ Russell.

Russell posted an astonishing 0.89 ERA, holding opponents to a 0.95 BA in 2023 as a reliever, but just as he was about to step into a starter’s role, he needed Tommy John surgery in June of 2023.

Without the surgery, many projected Russell in the top half of the first round. Rangers director of amateur scouting Kip Fagg said, “He threw a game in our stadium in one of those early tournaments, and man, if you drafted him that year, he was going to be a top five pick.

In the 4th round, the Rangers took RHP Mason McConnaughey from Nebraska, who required Tommy John surgery this past Spring.

Before the injury, McConnaughey was a two-time preseason All-American and a member of the Golden Spikes watch list.

One round later, the Rangers selected McKinney and TCU Horned Frog LHP Ben Abeldt, who is still one month away from throwing after having his surgery done by none other than Meister.

Meister and the Rangers sports medicine staff are the one thing that all three of these draft picks now have in common, and for Texas, that’s a roll of the dice, they’re willing to take.