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By Jon Paul Hoornstra
Contributing Sports Writer
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San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish might have thrown his final pitch in Major League Baseball.
The five-time All-Star, speaking during an appearance at the Ronald McDonald House on Monday, told Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune that the future of his career hinges on his recovery from internal brace and flexor tendon surgery on his right elbow.
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"I’m not necessarily thinking about really pitching as I go through this rehab process right now,” Darvish told Acee, through translator Shingo Horie. “I don’t have that in my mind. I’m just trying to just rehab my arm right now. And if I get the urge to come back, if I feel that I can stand on the mound and come back, then I will go for that, but I’ll just leave it there for now.”
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Even if Darvish, 38, feels that his elbow can cooperate after the 12- to 15-month recovery timeline the Padres outlined in November, his remarks portray his "urge" to pitch as a clear matter of "if" — not "when."
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Few pitchers are able to pitch effectively in the major leagues at Darvish's age. In 2025, he made 15 starts, going 5-5 with a 5.38 ERA (4.82 FIP) across 72 innings. He was deceptive enough to limit opponents to a 1.18 WHIP and strike out 68 batters in 72 innings.
Projecting how well (or quickly) Darvish can recover from major elbow surgery at his age is hardly a science, since few pitchers attempt to come back at this stage of their career. The 2025 season was Darvish's 20th as a professional, and his 13th in MLB since he arrived from Japan.
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Since signing with the Texas Rangers prior to the 2012 season, Darvish is 115-93 with a 3.65 ERA in 297 starts for the Rangers, Padres, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2024, he struck out his 2,000th career hitter — a milestone no Japanese-born pitcher had ever reached in MLB.
Darvish is still owed $43 million through 2028 under the terms of a six-year, $108 million extension he signed in February 2023. The skill that allowed Darvish to make five All-Star teams seems to be in the past. Now it appears the motivation might have eluded him, too.
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