Darvish (stress reaction in elbow) shut down for rest of '23

LOS ANGELES -- In the end, Yu Darvish’s 2023 season unfolded a lot like that of the ‘23 Padres. It began with much fanfare, didn’t live up to expectations and, now, it’s destined to end sooner than anyone in San Diego ever hoped for.

On Tuesday, the Padres formally shut Darvish down for the season as he deals with the effects of an injury to his right elbow. Speaking with reporters from the Dodger Stadium dugout before San Diego's 11-2 loss, Darvish revealed he suffered a stress reaction in the elbow, an injury he briefly attempted to pitch through.

Darvish was shut down at the end of August, and subsequent tests revealed a bone spur in that elbow. He received a cortisone injection, with the initial hope that he would be able to pitch down the stretch. But when Darvish recently began playing catch, his elbow remained sore, prompting the decision to stop throwing.

As such, Darvish’s season comes to an end with the veteran right-hander having posted a 4.56 ERA across 24 starts. His campaign featured its share of highlights. Darvish won the World Baseball Classic with Team Japan and broke Hideo Nomo’s all-time MLB strikeout record for a pitcher born in Japan. But when healthy, Darvish was mostly inconsistent this year.

“Obviously, the team wasn’t able to perform to its potential, I feel like,” Darvish said through interpreter Shingo Horie. “And that includes myself. So, there is some frustration there.”

At the moment, the more pertinent question is what the future holds for Darvish, who signed a six-year extension to remain with the Padres last offseason. Darvish has dealt with elbow trouble in the past, including Tommy John surgery that cost him his 2015 season with Texas and a stress reaction that cost him most of his ‘18 campaign with the Cubs.

That stress reaction, Darvish said, was “pretty similar” to this one, particularly in that neither progressed to the level of a stress fracture. The difference between the two, of course, is the timing. Darvish landed on the IL in May in 2018, and made multiple attempts at a comeback that summer. When those didn’t come to fruition, he underwent arthroscopic surgery and was ready to pitch at the start of the ‘19 season.

This injury, at least, presents Darvish with an ideal spot on the calendar for rest. He won’t throw for at least six weeks, at which point he’ll be re-evaluated. Only then, he said, would it be clear whether he needs a similar operation.

“The stress reaction, basically I need time for it to heal,” Darvish said.

In the meantime, the end of Darvish’s 2023 season raises clear questions about a number of other injured Padres, most notably Joe Musgrove. Musgrove is trying to work his way back from inflammation in his right shoulder capsule.

Initially, the Padres had planned for a path for Musgrove to return if they were in contention in late September. That plan appears to have been scrapped, given the team’s plight in the standings.

Musgrove is still playing catch and has yet to be fully shut down. But the team appears to be slow-playing his workload, as he’s yet to throw off a mound. That fact makes it highly unlikely that Musgrove would pitch again this season. Less than three weeks remain until the Oct. 1 finale.

Then there’s the wholly separate case of Manny Machado, who continues to play, despite an elbow injury that he acknowledged Monday might require offseason surgery. Machado is suffering from lateral epicondylitis -- known as tennis elbow -- and has been relegated to DH duty exclusively in September. But he homered twice on Monday in a win over the Dodgers.

Machado has expressed a strong desire to remain in the lineup, so long as the Padres are mathematically alive in the playoff picture. But it remains possible that, at some point, he would be shut down for the stretch run as well.

Already, Gary Sánchez is out for the year with a wrist fracture. The same is almost certainly true of Jake Cronenworth, who has the same injury. Key bullpen cogs Steven Wilson and Tim Hill are on the injured list, doubtful to return.

Which leaves the Padres in a precarious situation, 10 games below .500, playing out the stretch without some of their best players.

“It is what it is,” said manager Bob Melvin. “We’ve addressed that we’ve just got to keep playing, expecting to win games. You’re going to see some different guys out there. … It’s something we have to deal with, and that’s when you rely on your depth.”