Padres’ Yu Darvish Suffers Setback Putting Opening Day Start in Jeopardy

Gabe Smallson | 18 Hours Ago

Oct 11, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish (11) reacts in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game five of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres are delaying starting pitcher Yu Darvish's next bullpen due to "fatigue," per the San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee.

While it is solely deemed precautionary, this minor setback appears to put Darvish's potential Opening Day start in jeopardy.

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Yu Darvish getting a rest due to ‘fatigue’ https://t.co/RnDzukpfnX

— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) March 16, 2025

The good news is that the organization doesn’t seem to be too concerned. However, Darvish will be reevaluated this week after he throws again.

This essentially opens the door for Dylan Cease to be the Opening Day starter. 

President of baseball operations A.J. Preller seemed to hint at this move in February as the Friars will be asking a lot of the 38-year-old this season. 

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“At times for Yu-san, less is more,” said Preller. “And I think for us in terms of understanding, hey, the most important thing is what we saw last year when he was pitching in October. Yu Darvish in October is obviously a very talented and capable pitcher — seeing what he did in L.A. in two starts.

"So I think for us, it’s like understanding that, like, yeah, the World Series isn’t played in April or May. These games are important. But we’re gonna try and do everything we can … to make sure he is as prepared as he can to go perform at a high level.”

Pitching coach Ruben Niebla also spoke about potentially limiting Darvish late last month.

“We’re gonna watch, we’re gonna pay attention, we’re gonna listen to him, we’re gonna watch the metrics,” Niebla said, via Acee. “But Yu is the one guy that you can trust on this more than anybody else. He’s so aware.”

As the coaching staff will let Darvish take some rest time, he is unfortunately not the only pitcher dealing with some potential injury issues.

Last week, it was announced that 26-game starter from last season Matt Waldron would start the year on the injured list due to a left oblique injury, per manager Mike Shildt. Waldron was in the running to be the team’s No. 5 starter in the rotation to begin the season.

As Preller put it, this is a team that is less concerned about games in April and May, and more concerned about the duels in October.

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