San Diego’s Darvish contemplates out-of-season surgery for elbow injury

San Diego Padres Japanese starting pitcher Darvish Yu, 37, has been lost for the season with an elbow injury.Speaking to MLB.com and other local media ahead of the Padres’ 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, USA, on Wednesday (June 13), Darvish said, “After the injury, I dedicated myself to treatment and recovery, including receiving cortisone injections (to remove inflammation), but when I started playing catch recently, the pain in my elbow continued. At this point, we decided it was better to end the season early.””I am disappointed that the team did not perform well this season, and I feel responsible,” Daruvish added.Darvish was placed on the 15-day disabled list (IL) on March 29 with right elbow soreness after a poor outing against the Milwaukee Brewers on March 26 in which he allowed five runs in four innings.The elbow hasn’t gotten any better. Add to that the fact that his team, San Diego, is virtually eliminated from the postseason, and there’s no point in him returning.”Darvish plans to stay off the field for the next six weeks and focus on rehabilitation,” MLB.com reported, “and the decision to have surgery will be based on his progress.”Darvish already has a history of elbow surgery. In March 2015, he underwent elbow ligament splicing surgery (Tommy John surgery).He returned to the big leagues in May 2016 after a lengthy rehabilitation, and has since regained his form.If Darvish undergoes a second surgery later this year, he is expected to return for the 2025 season.That’s the worst-case scenario for his team, San Diego. The Dodgers signed Darvish to a six-year, $108 million extension in February.In his first year, Darvish went 8-10 with a 4.56 ERA in 24 appearances this year, and was lost to injury before the season was over.His quest to become the first Asian-American to win an MLB game was put on hold. With 103 wins (85 losses) so far this season, Darvish was on pace to break Chan Ho Park’s (retired) record for most wins by an Asian pitcher (124) in the next two to three years.However, the timing of the record challenge and breaking will be heavily influenced by his physical condition 안전놀이터 and whether or not he undergoes surgery in the future.