The San Diego Padres won’t have potential future Hall of Famer Yu Darvish pitch this season; however, the hope is that he stays as close as he can to be a coaching presence in the clubhouse. The Padres will benefit with him around.
Darvish underwent Tommy John surgery right after last season ended, forcing the Padres to make a serious decision about adding another starter to the rotation before the season starts.
On Wednesday, as pitchers and catchers have reported to camp, Padres manager Craig Stammen provided the latest update on Darvish and what his hopes are with him this season.
Craig Stammen was asked for the latest update on Yu Darvish and what role he’ll play for the team this season despite not pitching: pic.twitter.com/gtNKpy5vZf
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“Yu is a good friend of mine, obviously got to play together for a few years. It seems like he is in a great spot right now. He is not going to pitch this year, coming back from Tommy John surgery, but we love having him around the team as much as he is willing to be around the team. We love having him here. I know he has had a large impact on a lot of our pitchers, specifically Randy Vasquez. He’s trying to teach Randy to be the Dominican Yu Darvish, so…”
“Yu has so much knowldge we cannot wait to have him back.”
Stammen also said that Darvish is planning on going to help out Team Japan for the World Baseball Classic, where he helped them in 2023 win the title.