PEORIA, Ariz. -- The start to Yu Darvish¡¯s 2025 season is in jeopardy of being delayed, after the Padres recently paused his throwing program while he deals with what manager Mike Shildt called ¡°general fatigue.¡±
It¡¯s unclear when Darvish will resume throwing, Shildt said. As such, it¡¯s also unclear whether the issue would prevent Darvish from being part of the Padres¡¯ season-opening rotation.
Shildt didn¡¯t divulge the nature of the fatigue that Darvish is dealing with, only to say, ¡°He¡¯s dealt with fatigue before and is just working through it.¡±
Regarding Darvish¡¯s roster status, Shildt said: ¡°I don¡¯t have the information right now to say it¡¯s going to or won¡¯t impact it.¡±
Darvish pitched four innings in a Cactus League game against the Royals on Thursday and played catch the following day. But he hasn¡¯t thrown the past two days, as the Padres take every precaution to keep the 38-year-old right-hander healthy.
¡°He¡¯s experiencing some general fatigue,¡± Shildt said. ¡°We¡¯re just backing him off a little bit. We¡¯re re-evaluating his schedule. He¡¯s been in a good place, got his four innings, got his pitch count into a good place. Just want to be smart getting into a long season.¡±
If Darvish were unavailable to be part of the Padres¡¯ season-opening rotation, the race for one spot at the back of that rotation would suddenly become a race for two spots. Stephen Kolek, Kyle Hart and Randy V¨¢squez are top candidates for that role. Left-hander Wes Benjamin is slated to make his first start of the spring on Monday against Milwaukee.
Darvish is coming off an injury-plagued 2024 campaign, in which he made only 16 starts. He dealt with minor bouts of neck, hip and elbow soreness throughout the year. He also missed time while on the restricted list, tending to a personal matter.
Darvish was presumed to be one of four locks in the San Diego rotation -- alongside Michael King, Dylan Cease and Nick Pivetta. Shildt announced King as the team¡¯s Opening Day starter on Monday.
Darvish was an obvious candidate and could¡¯ve equaled a franchise record with his fourth Opening Day start. But at the very least, his bout of fatigue would presumably bump him to the back of the season-opening rotation. Of course, that¡¯s contingent on Darvish resuming his throwing progression in the near future, which is no certainty.
¡°It¡¯s fluid,¡± Shildt said of that process. ¡°We¡¯re evaluating him as the days go. He¡¯s had a couple days of rest, and we¡¯ll see how he responds and what it looks like from more of a medical standpoint.¡±