Going into the 2025 season, the San Diego Padres had the makings of a deep and talented starting pitching rotation. Shoot, if a veteran ace like Yu Darvish is your third starter, you probably have a pretty good stable of arms.
Unfortunately, Darvish is not going to be that third starter for a little while.
On Friday, Padres manager Mike Shildt confirmed Darvish is dealing with right elbow inflammation and will not be available for at least the opening series against the Atlanta Braves (which starts Thursday, March 27 with a 1:10 p.m. start at Petco Park). How long his absence will last is something the club is trying to figure out.
“He’s in a rest phase. He did not play catch yesterday,” Shildt said. “He’s going to go a couple of days, just give it a little bit of a rest, work on some other things physically and then reboot. We feel pretty comfortable that some rest and getting him back up will be the answer at the moment.”
Darvish last started a Spring Training game on March 13 and has only played catch sparingly since. The 38-year-old has dealt with a multitude of injuries over the last few years, including hip and neck issues and a bone spur in his pitching elbow. None of those maladies has required surgery, which is the hope for this latest setback.
The Padres now must find a way to fill a sizeable hole in their rotation — a curve ball every team deals with at some point in the season.
“The best laid plans, they don’t always go perfectly in a straight line,” Shildt said. “So, you know, Yu’s had a little bit of a setback, and we’ll evaluate as it goes.”
Before Darvish’s injury, there were three pitchers battling for one final starting spot: RHP Randy Vasquez, RHP Stephen Kolek and LHP Kyle Hart (knuckleballer Matt Waldron was also in the mix early in camp, but he’s dealing with an oblique injury and also won’t be available by Opening Day). Now, two of them will earn jobs in the five-man rotation to start the season.
“That’s one thing that’s wonderful about this game is, you know, the opportunities that can be presented,” said Shildt, the eternal optimist. “All those guys have worked really hard to put themselves in a good position. We still have a couple more days where we have to make some hard decisions.”
Shildt says the odd man out will be sent to Triple-A El Paso to continue stretching out as a starter instead of transitioning to a bullpen role.
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