Padres News: Yu Darvish Dealing With ‘Unusual Irritation’ in Elbow

Not a good sign for the veteran righty.

After being shut down for the remainder of the 2023 season, one Padre in the starting rotation may have a bigger injury issue than originally thought. 

Out for the rest of this year with bone spurs in his elbow, Yu Darvish has mentioned additional soreness that he didn't anticipate which contributed to his early end to the season.

But he recently experienced unusual irritation in the elbow, prompting the decision to shut him down. Darvish will now rest for five to six weeks in hopes that the time off will allow the stress reaction to heal.

via Dennis Lin, The Athletic

A stable piece of the Padres rotation the entirety of this year, Darvish's season ended prematurely after over 130 innings of work. 

Though not the best season of his career by any stretch of the imagination, after injuries to Joe Musgrove and Michael Wacha earlier in the summer, Darvish's presence in Bob Melvin's starting rotation was a welcome sight. 

Gritting through his arm issues, Darvish threw to the tune of a 4.56 ERA, striking out 141 batters in his third season with San Diego. 

An All-Star in 2021, Darvish hasn't had the same level of individual success in the past two seasons, although the Padres made a spirited run to the NLCS last season. 

Unlikely to make the playoffs for another chance at postseason baseball this season, Darvish has decided to let the injury he's dealt with in the last few months try to heal on its own. 

It's an understandable decision as Darvish missed the entirety of the 2015 season due to a major elbow injury and a subsequent Tommy John Surgery. 

Avoiding the dreaded second Tommy John surgery by all estimations, Darvish will now turn his focus to 2024, much like the rest of his Padres teammates.