June 17, 2016
Yu Darvish’s much-antici-pated return to the Texas Rangers lasted just three games. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday because of persistent discomfort in his throwing shoulder and neck, the Rangers announced.
Only two weeks earlier, he made his 2016 debut after a year-and-a-half stint recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Darvish, 29, showed an ability to recapture his old form during his three appearances.
He had two wins and no losses with a 19-to-6 strikeout-walk ratio over 15 2/3 innings, averaging 94 mph on his fastball.
But Darvish was pulled June 9 with tightness in his right shoulder. After an abbreviated bullpen session Sunday, he was scratched from his scheduled turn Monday against the Athletics.
Darvish, who was being kept to a 90-pitch limit in each start, said he “heard it’s common for players who have had Tommy John surgery to have issues like this” and didn’t “want to push it and make it worse.”
An MRI on both the shoulder and neck showed no “acute” structural damage, the team said.
“That was good news,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. “But he continues to have discomfort in the area and we’re going to give him more time to recover…. It’s not unusual for somebody coming back from surgery to have some soreness in another area. We are going to treat it cautiously and get him going again.”
Darvish had Tommy John surgery on his elbow on March 17, 2015, and missed all of last season. He made five rehab starts in the minors last month before rejoining the Rangers.
