Padres News: How Yu Darvish Prevailed Through Unusual Start to 2023 Season

Few could've handled the circumstances he was under.

It is truly remarkable to say that at 36-years-old, Yu Darvish is still a productive pitcher for the San Diego Padres. To take it a step further, he actually headlines their starters and he was set to take the mound for them on opening day.

However, we have all been aware of the rough process he's gone through in order to just make his season debut. San Diego's front office was more than supportive as Darvish opted to join Team Japan during the WBC rather than be with the Friars in Peoria for Spring Training.

It was initially believed that the RHP would get all the run he needed during Japan's championship run but as the tournament went on, Darvish reached out to the Padres pretty concerned. He wasn't always used as a starting pitcher by his country during this time so his body wasn't going to be ready for opening day.

Yu Darvish, through translator Shingo Horie, speaks about the Padres' willingness to allow Darvish to miss most of Spring Training for the WBC: "I'm very thankful that they allowed me to do this."

Darvish also discusses adjusting to the pitch clock and using PitchCom: pic.twitter.com/NXIYBd0BjX

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) March 23, 2023

Even though it resulted in a 5-0 loss to the New York Mets, we got the pleasure of seeing the highly-touted matchup between Darvish and Max Scherzer. 

Darvish was able to last seven innings and even though big runs were made by the Mets through some very lucky hits and bunts, it was great to see Darvish finally looking comfortable again.

Team manager Bob Melvin spoke to the MLB's AJ Cassavell and shared how happy he was to see his starting pitcher finding his place again.

"I thought his stuff was good throughout the course of the game,” said Melvin. “It's good to get him out there and throw [104] pitches, feel good about himself. I think now he's back to what we're going to see normally out of him.”

Expect to see even more improved play from Darvish as he gets more games under his belt.