Yu Darvish Will Return to Padres When He Wants To, Says Mike Shildt

The San Diego Padres have been without one of their top pitchers, Yu Darvish, since the start of the 2025 season.

Darvish began the season on the injured list with elbow inflammation, but got through four innings in his first rehab start with Triple-A El Paso.

The soon-to-be 39-year-old threw 51 pitches, 37 of which were strikes. Darvish struck out four, walked one batter, and gave up a two-run homer in the first inning.

The rehab start for Darvish was a step in the right direction, but the Padres will consult the right-hander on what's next.

“Listen, we’ll see what he wants to do, how he feels,” manager Mike Shildt said, via The San Diego Union-Tribune's Jeff Sanders, “but I don’t think he wants to spend a lot of time with rehab.”

Last season, Darvish went 7-3 with a 3.31 ERA, 78 strikeouts, and a 1.065 WHIP across 81.2 innings pitched. The veteran was a reliable starter for the Padres in the playoffs.

Darvish pitched in Game 2 and Game 5 of the National League Division Series for the Friars. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller said the priority was for the right-hander to pitch in the postseason beyond anything else.

“At times for Yu-san, less is more,” Preller said in the offseason. “And I think for us in terms of understanding, hey, the most important thing is what we saw last year when he was pitching in October. Yu Darvish in October is obviously a very talented and capable pitcher — seeing what he did in L.A. in two starts.

"So I think for us, it’s like understanding that, like, yeah, the World Series isn’t played in April or May. These games are important. But we’re gonna try and do everything we can … to make sure he is as prepared as he can to go perform at a high level.”

While it's not ideal for the Padres to be without Darvish for the first portion of 2025, San Diego needs the veteran in October.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.