SAN DIEGO — Yu Darvish spent parts of the past two months not unlike the way he and other pitchers spent the pandemic shutdown of 2020. He played catch. He faced college hitters in live batting practice at Westview High School in northern San Diego County. Five days later, he threw another session of live batting practice at the same field. The next week, Darvish rejoined the Padres.
Part of his thinking: To make an effective return before the end of this season, he needed to be around the team’s coaches, athletic trainers and other staffers. When Darvish stepped away this summer to tend to a private family matter, he volunteered to give up a substantial amount of salary. He also agreed to bar himself from valuable amenities; players on the restricted list are not permitted to use team facilities or work directly with certain club employees.
So, each time he threw on his own, Darvish — who turned 38 on Aug. 16 — followed up by administering his arm care and other treatment on his own.
“When you’re in the situation that I was in, you have to basically do everything by yourself,” Darvish said through interpreter Shingo Horie. “It was a challenge.”
The rust from an unusual layoff was evident Wednesday. Darvish, in his first big-league outing since late May, was scheduled for five innings or roughly 75 pitches. He ended up throwing 63 pitches and allowing three runs to the Detroit Tigers over 2 2/3 innings. It was his shortest start since May 28, 2023. It was the Padres’ shortest non-rain-interrupted start since Randy Vásquez retired six batters July 28. You could argue that it was understandable.
“There was a lot of adrenaline going into this game, maybe a little trying to do too much, kind of getting used to the pitch clock again,” Darvish said. “I think a key (going forward) would be to try to be a little bit calmer.”
And, after some of the adrenaline had faded, Darvish could feel something else: a collective sense of satisfaction.
The Padres, following Darvish’s exit, rallied from a five-run deficit. They flexed their loaded bullpen and made aggressive use of an expanded roster. In the bottom of the 10th, they got the first walk-off hit in the career of Fernando Tatis Jr. The All-Star right fielder had returned from his own extended absence a game earlier.
“For him to do it in a game that I started,” Darvish said, “that makes it awesome for me too.”
Another comeback victory — Padres 6, Tigers 5 — improved the team’s record to a season-high 19 games over .500. It nudged San Diego’s playoff odds, according to FanGraphs, above 95 percent. With Tatis already providing a boost, Darvish has about a month to get back to form.
That might not be the Padres’ biggest concern. Another veteran pitcher, Joe Musgrove, recently returned from 11 weeks on the injured list and has since provided a 1.30 ERA in five starts. Dylan Cease remains one of the more durable and electric right-handers in the game. Michael King seems to be holding up well deep into his first full season as a big-league starter.
But Musgrove, 31, was able to stay with the team throughout the duration of his IL stint. Both he and Darvish, despite appearing healthy, will continue to be trailed by some worry about their arms. Cease, meanwhile, has been a bit uneven since throwing a no-hitter. The Padres might need to get creative to extend King’s stamina beyond this month. The starting rotation has combined for a 5.42 ERA since Aug. 16.
Barring a division title, a likely postseason opener will come Oct. 1. Darvish’s return on Wednesday, then, brought a mixed bag — and, with it, some promising moments.
Darvish’s first pitch was a 95.5 mph fastball. His last fastball registered at 94 mph. He would finish an abbreviated outing with 11 swings-and-misses.
Yu Darvish, Nasty 86mph Slider. 😨
Welcome back! pic.twitter.com/TJciH1ceiM
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 5, 2024
“The stuff was great,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “It was coming out easy. The secondary pitches looked like they were there. As you can expect the first game back in a big-league game, it was a little bit of just missing either off (the plate) or just missing too much on. Command does speak for itself, but I thought the ball came out well. He said he felt good. His arm felt good. His body felt good. Just knocked a little bit of the proverbial rust off. But I was really encouraged by how it was coming out.”
Come next month, the Padres might not need long outings from Darvish or anyone else in their rotation. They demonstrated Wednesday how they can shorten a game, especially when necessary. Adrian Morejon, in the midst of a breakout season, pitched the sixth inning. Tanner Scott, an All-Star, took the mound in the seventh for just the second time this year. Jason Adam, another trade deadline acquisition, got the eighth. All-Star closer Robert Suarez followed in the ninth. Jeremiah Estrada, once the hottest reliever in the league, took the top of the 10th. None of them allowed a run.
Before the Padres’ parade of shutdown relief, superstar rookie Jackson Merrill clubbed an opposite-field, three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. The rally resumed in the fifth as Manny Machado delivered a tying, two-run single. In the 10th, with an automatic runner on second, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch intentionally walked singles machine Luis Arraez to bring up a possibly rusty hitter. Tatis, who had already doubled, responded by ripping the winning single into left field.
“I took it personal as soon as I saw four fingers up,” Tatis said with a laugh. “But it gave me that push that I feel I needed, the energy that I needed, and I just wanted to come through for the boys.”
Said Merrill: “You give a guy three months off basically, and he’s doing what he can to get back and healthy, and obviously, he grinded to do it. It’s not easy. Getting him now at the strength he has and how healthy he is, it’s huge for us.”
Late Wednesday, Darvish stood inside a celebratory clubhouse and briefly reflected on his own return to the team. He praised the home crowd and quipped that he felt “glad to be alive to experience” their reception. (“I didn’t pitch that well. Still, the fans were calling my name and chanting and giving me a warm welcome.”) He called it a “blessing” to be a Padre.
The feeling is mutual. San Diego, loaded bullpen and all, will need him to make a run in October. Darvish, for his part, needed to get back around the team.
“You know, you get everything here,” Darvish said. “Now I’m back here and being able to see these guys, so I think it’s all good.”
(Top photo of Yu Darvish pitching on Wednesday: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)
