Padres News: Yu Darvish Sets Goal for Next Start

The Padres ace has yet to reach this feat in 2024.

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish helped lead the Padres to a 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday in his second game back from the 15-day injured list. Darvish landed on the IL in mid-April due to neck tightness. 

While going up against his former team Monday, Darvish pitched his second consecutive shutout performance. In that game, the 37-year-old ace also pitched 5.0 innings and allowed just three hits, zero runs, and one walk while striking out five batters. 

Despite putting in another strong outing, Darvish is setting a goal for where he wants to improve in his next start — to get closer to throwing 100 pitches in a start.

“I’ve been able to rack up a number of pitches,” Darvish said, via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Hopefully I’m able to go close to 100 pitches the next outing.”

Darvish has yet to throw at least 100 pitches in a game this season. The most he's thrown so far is 92 on April 14, when he helped lead the Padres to a 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Most recently, he threw 83 pitches in this game, a step up from when he threw 70 in his first game back from the IL.

Along with total pitches, Darvish is also looking to pitch more than 5.0 innings in a game. He’s reached this feat once this season, when he pitched 7.0 innings during the Padres’ 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on April 2nd. 

Overall this season, Darvish has pitched an average of 4.7 innings with 30 total strikeouts and a 2.94 ERA. The Padres are 5-2 in games he starts, with four straight wins in his starts.