Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish hasn’t pitched in 13 months after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but he could return next month.
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Brocail Comments on Darvish Recovery
Saturday, April 9
“It’s time to turn him loose a little,” pitching coach Doug Brocail said after Darvish‘s 50-pitch bullpen session Saturday, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. “He’s out of the stable and we’ve got to let him run a little.”
“I don’t feel we should go backwards,” Brocail added, per Grant. “It’s all subject to change, but if all goes well, we’re going to try and stay on schedule.”
Darvish missed the entire 2015 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right throwing elbow, but he progressed to the point where he was activated off the Rangers’ 60-day disabled list last November.
However, the time off evidently revitalized Darvish‘s passion for the game.
“For 10 years I’ve been throwing in my career,” Darvish said, per the Star-Telegram‘s Jeff Wilson. “Sometimes throwing in the 10 years, it’s kind of like it became routine and I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I used to when I first starting my career. Having that time [off], I feel like I’m enjoying throwing the ball more right now.”
Few players are more valuable to the Rangers than the 29-year-old Darvish, but it helps that the Rangers got aggressive and plucked Cole Hamels from the Philadelphia Phillies at last season’s trade deadline. With some more stability in the starting rotation, Texas can at least afford to wait a bit for its ace to be completely healthy.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless noted otherwise.
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