After only one start in spring training, the Texas Rangers will be without their ace for the entire 2015 season. The team officially received the bad news regarding Yu Darvish on Friday.
After receiving three opinions on his sprained UCL, Darvish will undergo Tommy John surgery on Tuesday and will miss the entire 2015 season. The 28-year-old left was pulled from his start on March 5 because of soreness in his right triceps, but an MRI revealed partially torn ligaments and inflammation last Friday.
Darvish was shut down in the beginning of August last year because of mild elbow inflammation and since the team was in no position to contend for the postseason, they kept him out of action even when it was believed he was able to pitch again. The right-hander underwent an MRI in November and it revealed a healthy UCL, which is why his latest injury is a surprise.
Dr. James Andrews will be the one performing the surgery in Pensacola, Fla. and the recovery period for Darvish is expected to take 12-14 months. He could have opted to rest the elbow, which would have kept him out of action for four months, but wouldn't have guaranteed his long-term health. For some perspective, Yankees' starter Masahiro Tanaka suffered a partially torn UCL in July and has opted to rehab the injury rather than undergo surgery. His first spring start was a success on Thursday, but his long-term health still remains a mystery.
"Once we had the diagnosis, we wanted to make sure everybody was comfortable," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said via T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. "Yu felt we had taken all the right steps and got the all the information to make a good decision. Now we can start the process of getting him back."
"Every rehab is different, but we're not going to put a stopwatch on it," he added. "We want to get him back and get him back for good. We'll take it as it goes. Our mindset is to bring him back once and not have any setbacks."
Darvish was set to be the Opening Day starter, but now that's about to change. Luckily, Texas acquired a former No. 1 starter from the Milwaukee Brewers earlier in the offseason.
"Manager Jeff Banister isn't ready to make any announcements about his starting rotation yet, but all signs point to Yovani Gallardo making the season-opening start at Oakland in place of injured Yu Darvish," writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.
Gallardo finished 8-11 with a 3.51 ERA and 1.295 WHIP in 32 starts with the Brewers in 2014.
