Injured Yu Darvish Has No Timetable to Return to Padres

The San Diego Padres' revenge season is underway against the Atlanta Braves.

Ahead of the excitement of Opening Day, there was the unfortunate news regarding Yu Darvish and his elbow inflammation earlier this month. An injury that started as just general fatigue grew to a concern about his elbow and subsequent stoppage in his pitching progression.

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There is still no timetable for Darvish's return, but there was a more positive update given by Padres beat reporter AJ Cassavell.

The 38-year-old was playing catch for the first time after the halt to his pitching, per president of baseball operations A.J. Preller.

Positive day for Yu Darvish yesterday, A.J. Preller said. Darvish played catch for the first time after a brief shutdown. He's going to keep playing catch and stretching out, but still no timetable for a return to the mound.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) March 27, 2025

This is certainly a step in the right direction for someone who many assumed would be pitching Thursday to kick off the season. A more tangible idea of when his return to Petco Park surely would have been the cherry on top of a thrilling Opening Day.

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The San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee reported earlier this week that Darvish went to seek out a renowned orthopedic surgeon in Dr. Keith Meister.

The doctor gave the Padres reassurance that there was no ligament damage and no surgery required. Also, per Acee, the team sees more value in not rushing Darvish back to the mound during the early stages of the season as they want to do what they can to ensure more key starts later in the season.

With October in the sights of this newly rebuilt Padres team, having Darvish available for the Fall would certainly be more valuable than a rushed March regular season game, regardless of the fanfare.

Unfortunately, Darvish was far from the only injured Padres arm this spring.

Another presumed rotational piece, Matt Waldron, also opened the season on the 15-day injured list. Waldron and Darvish join Jhony Brito, Bryan Hoeing, and Sean Reynolds on the IL.

Additionally, Joe Musgrove is on the 60-day injured list recovering from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in October.

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