As WBC continues, Padres have concerns about Yu Darvish and his timetable
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — On Wednesday night in Miami, Edwin Díaz secured the 27th out for Team Puerto Rico and, as he celebrated a massive upset, went to the ground with a season-erasing knee injury.
On Thursday night in Tokyo, Yu Darvish made his first relief appearance since 2010, recorded six outs and threw 27 pitches in a victory that sent Team Japan to Miami.
Advertisement
Several hours later, on Thursday morning in Peoria, Padres manager Bob Melvin acknowledged what he and other team officials are thinking as their presumptive Opening Day starter and his fellow countrymen advance to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic.
They are unsure if Darvish, who has been away all spring, will make a single Cactus League start after he finally arrives in Arizona. And, because he has worked only five total innings in the WBC, they are concerned about his build-up for the major-league regular season.
“Yeah, especially after two (innings in Tokyo),” Melvin said. “I mean, he’s a guy that you feel like you can push, you can get wherever you need to. But it doesn’t mean we would be comfortable pushing too far, you know, if and when he’s back here for a start. Yeah, it wasn’t ideal.”
The Padres, since the beginning, understood the risks of having several of their best players compete in a full-intensity tournament in March. They also understood what it meant to those participants. Early this year, Melvin and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller gave their full blessing for an extended leave of absence: Darvish, their No. 1 starting pitcher, would fly to Japan the second week of February to train with his WBC teammates. He would not join the Padres in spring training until Team Japan’s run is over.
This week, two of the club’s starting infielders returned to Padres camp and lamented premature exits by their respective countries. “I don’t think anyone thought we were going to be back this early,” Xander Bogaerts said after playing with Team Netherlands.
“We thought this tournament was really important for our country and our fans in baseball,” said Ha-Seong Kim of Team Korea, “but obviously we didn’t give them what they expected, so I feel really bad as a team member.”
Advertisement
Wednesday in Miami, with owner Peter Seidler in attendance, four Padres players — Manny Machado, Juan Soto, Nelson Cruz and Luis García — felt similar disappointment when their loaded Dominican Republic team was eliminated by Puerto Rico.
Then, as the game ended, they experienced the surprise of seeing Díaz, the Mets’ $102 million closer, tear the patellar tendon in his right knee.
“You can’t help but think about some things that happen,” Melvin said. “So it’s unfortunate, but you can’t help in the back of your mind (thinking) about, ‘Just get these guys back healthy.'”
Now, the two Padres left in the WBC are Darvish and Team USA starter Nick Martinez. Both pitchers signed lucrative contracts in the offseason. Darvish, who received a six-year, $108 million extension just before he left for Japan, remains of particular importance as San Diego prepares for its most anticipated season yet. Joe Musgrove, who had been the other candidate to start Opening Day, dropped a kettlebell on his left big toe late last month.
Yet, at this point, Musgrove may have a better chance of making a Cactus League start this month. Musgrove already has thrown multiple bullpen sessions since he fractured his toe. Darvish’s rare relief appearance could set him up to pitch Tuesday in Miami — possibly again in tandem with fellow star Shohei Ohtani — if Japan makes it to the WBC championship game. The Padres’ final spring game is March 27, less than a week after that date. The season opens on March 30.
“I don’t know what (Team Japan’s) plans are for next time,” Melvin said. “We’re kind of reaching out and figuring out where that goes. We’d certainly like to have him get a game in here first, but I’m not sure what that looks like.”
Darvish’s level of readiness could affect the composition of the Opening Day pitching staff. “We’re going to need relievers and we’re going to need guys that can give us some length,” Melvin said. Following Thursday’s effort in Tokyo, Darvish threw more than 40 additional pitches in the bullpen — or roughly as many as he threw in his first WBC outing. Although he spent the offseason timing himself in bullpens, he has not yet felt the pressure of an in-game pitch clock or the other new major-league rules that are absent from the WBC.
Advertisement
So, it’s possible that someone other than Darvish or Musgrove will throw the first pitch of the season.
“I hope not, but I think everything’s on the table right now,” Melvin said.
Having enough arms to cover enough innings early in the season might be the more pressing issue. The Padres, beginning March 30, will play 24 games in 25 days.
Thursday against the Rockies, veteran Michael Wacha was pulled from the third inning of a Cactus League start because he had already thrown 60 pitches. He returned to the mound the next inning — which is allowed under spring training rules — and threw a dozen more pitches. Jay Groome, who could be approaching his big-league debut, went four innings in an earlier “B” game against the Mariners. It was not his most impressive outing in what has been an encouraging spring; Groome’s fastball velocity mostly sat just below 90 mph, according to scouts. Martinez will try to build on his first WBC start — 57 pitches over 2 2/3 innings — when he retakes the mound this weekend.
“They need Darvish ready to go,” one rival evaluator said.
It will be a long season, of course. The Padres, as they try to win their first World Series title, should have time to figure certain things out. They did not seek to dissuade their players from WBC competition. For Darvish, perhaps as much as anyone, the tournament has held special significance.
"I knew going in it was going to be a fun time. I never knew it was going to be this fun.”
Mike Trout is Team USA's captain, but to his peers, he's something bigger, too.
It’s not unlike how NBA stars once viewed Michael Jordan, @Ken_Rosenthal writes.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 16, 2023
Darvish had not played in Japan since 2011, his final season with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He had not played in the WBC since 2009, when he helped Team Japan to the title. Thursday night in Tokyo might have been the 36-year-old’s final time pitching in the country where he is a baseball legend. And, as Musgrove and Díaz recently showed, injuries can happen anywhere and anytime.
Advertisement
Still, Padres officials were relieved when a number of their players declined invitations to this month’s tournament. That group includes Musgrove, fellow pitchers Seth Lugo and Robert Suarez and outfielder José Azocar. Each player had his reasons. Lugo, for example, is building up as a starter after spending most of the past four seasons as a reliever.
He knows he needs to reestablish a routine. He also knows the Padres need him.
“I’d like to do it again,” said Lugo, who pitched for Puerto Rico in the 2017 WBC. “It’s just the wrong year for me, you know?”
(Photo: Toru Hanai / Associated Press)
