Nabil Crismatt To Undergo UCL Surgery

The Rangers revealed yesterday that right-hander Nabil Crismatt will undergo an elbow procedure, but further specifics weren’t immediately clear. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News has since written that Crismatt, who’s in camp with Texas as a non-roster invitee, suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament during his first bullpen session of camp. Whether he undergoes a full reconstruction (Tommy John surgery) or an internal brace procedure to repair/strengthen his current ligament, he’ll miss the entire season.

Crismatt, 31, signed on for a second stint with the Rangers this offseason. He pitched for their Triple-A club in 2024 but didn’t receive a call to the majors. The journeyman right-hander has pitched for four teams across the past six seasons, logging a combined 3.71 ERA in 211 big league innings. He’s fanned 20.6% of his opponents against a 7% walk rate and kept 49.2% of batted balls against him on the ground.

Crismatt spent the 2025 season with the D-backs and Phillies organizations, tossing 34 MLB frames for Arizona and matching his 3.71 career earned run average on the dot. He’s never been a hard thrower, sitting 89.5 mph on his sinker and 90 mph on his four-seamer throughout his big league career. His blend of grounders, above-average command and a knack for inducing weak contact have helped him to succeed more often than not in the majors.

Since he’s on a non-roster deal, Crismatt won’t be placed on the injured list and won’t accrue big league service. It’s a tough blow for the right-hander, who also logged 102 1/3 innings of 3.96 ERA ball in Triple-A last year. In addition to hoping to land a spot on the Rangers’ roster, he’d been slated to pitch for his native Colombia in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. That obviously won’t happen. Depending on which variety of UCL procedure he undergoes, Crismatt will likely be ready next spring (internal brace) or next April/May (Tommy John surgery).