Jon Gray Injury: Could pitch again in 2025

President of baseball operations Chris Young said Tuesday that the Rangers are optimistic that Gray (shoulder) is dealing with symptoms that are more consistent with the neurologic version of thoracic outlet syndrome rather than the more significant vascular version, which would expedite the right-hander's return to the mound, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports. "The primary symptoms normally are nerve-related," Young said of Gray's condition. "I don't want to put the cart before the horse because every patient is different. But our hope is that whatever it is, it's minor and, after 15 days, he'll be ready [to return from the injured list.] But we still have some diagnostics to get through before we have a clear idea on the prognosis."

The Rangers deactivated Gray on Aug. 17 due to right shoulder nerve irritation, though the team had an underlying concern that the 33-year-old would be lost for the season since the symptoms he was experiencing were consistent with thoracic outlet syndrome, which could necessitate surgery. Gray was scheduled to visit a vascular specialist in Dallas last week, and assuming the doctor's evaluation of the right-hander's condition aligns with the early assessment by the Rangers' medical team, Gray could be cleared to address his shoulder issue with treatments such as Botox injections, which would numb the nerve and enable him to return after missing close to the minimum 15 days. Prior to his recent placement on the IL, Gray had spent the first four months on the shelf while recovering from a fractured wrist. He rejoined the Rangers in late July as a reliever and had struggled to a 7.71 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in 14 innings over six appearances before the shoulder problem cropped up.