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<\/p>\nGood morning from Washington,<\/p>\n
Yu Darvish made his third start of 2025 last night.<\/p>\n
That is three more starts than he thought he might make ever again.<\/p>\n
And that is where we will start this morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, that was possible,\u201d Darvish said Friday regarding his wondering earlier this year if his career was over due to ongoing elbow issues. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t give up. I kept working hard and believing I could come back. So that worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darvish is 38 years old, less than a month from being 39. That makes him a senior citizen playing a kid\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
He won\u2019t say exactly what is happening inside his right elbow. But the fact is, he has missed time with elbow problems each of the five seasons he has been with the Padres.<\/p>\n
One of the best pitchers of his generation is in some ways hanging on by the sheer will of wanting to.<\/p>\n
Darvish worked five innings, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk, in last night\u2019s 4-2 loss to the Nationals.<\/p>\n
He and the Padres appear pleased with his progress after he missed more than three months at the start of the season.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Even now, not nearly what he has been nor what the Padres hope he will be, Darvish is due some credit.<\/p>\n
He said Friday that when he was shut down in spring training he wondered whether he could make it back.<\/p>\n
It turns out he never felt entirely right while working his way toward a rehab start on May 14. In that start in Las Vegas for Triple-A El Paso, Darvish worked four innings well enough that the Padres expected he was close to returning. At the same time, he wondered if he could go on.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt got a little bit worse in Las Vegas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But after a couple weeks off and \u201csome adjustments\u201d \u2014 \u201cI changed some preparation routine, also treatment routine,\u201d he said \u2014 Darvish resumed throwing and eventually worked in a series of simulated games against minor league hitters before making his season debut on July 7.<\/p>\n
He remains rusty.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t particularly happy about how I was pitching out there,\u201d Darvish said after last night\u2019s game. \u201cI was able to go five innings, and that\u2019s the longest that I\u2019ve been able to go after coming back, so I think that part was good. But I was maybe getting too much (of) the strike zone. So that part, I think I can adjust and be better next time out.<\/p>\n
\u201cStamina-wise, I feel good. I was strong all throughout the game. So that part, I think, is good. Just the command. That was part of the issue for tonight, and that\u2019s something that I need to work on a little bit more leading up to the next game. \u2026 I think it\u2019s just part of coming back to the game. Just the mechanical adjustment that I need to fine tune in order to have that right command. Once I get there, I should be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Padres are banking on him being at least that. They have built a rotation that essentially needs Darvish to be close to the best version of himself by the end of the season.<\/p>\n
As a reminder, as recently as last September and October, that version was good enough to be a playoff ace.<\/p>\n
Darvish returned from 3\u00bd months off (first to rehab an elbow ailment and then to deal with a personal matter) and closed out the 2024 regular season with a 2.78 ERA over his final four starts and then made two excellent starts (three runs in 13\u2154 innings) at Dodger Stadium in the National League Division Series.<\/p>\n
Darvish\u2019s MLB career began in 2012, and since then he has started 284 games and pitched 1,719\u2153 innings.<\/p>\n
Among the 55 men to have pitched 1,000 innings since 2012, Darvish ranks sixth in strikeouts per nine innings (10.6), seventh in WHIP and 18th in ERA (3.60).<\/p>\n
His next win will be the 204th of his career between Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball, which will break a tie with Hiroki Kuroda for most combined wins in the two leagues by a Japanese-born pitcher.<\/p>\n
That was undoubtedly a motivation for Darvish continuing to pitch.<\/p>\n
There is no telling how much longer he will do so.<\/p>\n
There have been rumblings for more than a year that he might not finish out his contract, which runs through 2028. He said in the spring that his plan was to do so but acknowledged it is not certain<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cEach year, I just focus to play baseball,\u201d he said then. \u201cIf I feel like I can\u2019t play baseball anymore, then I\u2019m done playing.\u201d<\/p>\n This week he offered pragmatic reasons for continuing to pitch.<\/p>\n It is his job.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Padres are paying me money,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I have to work as hard as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n It is what he knows.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is what I did since when I was eight years old,\u201d he said. \u201cI never study anything. Just play baseball. That\u2019s why I need to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n He enjoys it.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I don\u2019t love it, I\u2019m not here,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I still love it for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Summer rerun<\/p>\n