Padres' Yu Darvish to Open 2025 MLB Season on IL with Elbow Injury

The San Diego Padres will be without one of their veteran starting pitchers to begin the season.

Per MLB.com's AJ Cassavell, Padres manager Mike Shildt confirmed that Yu Darvish will start the year on the injured list due to elbow inflammation.

"We feel pretty comfortable that some rest and getting ramped back up will be the answer," Shildt said.

The Athletic's Dennis Lin reported earlier this week that Darvish had to pause his throwing schedule because of "general fatigue" before dealing with inflammation in his right elbow following last week's Cactus League start.

“(After) the game (Thursday), he had some general fatigue associated with it. He was taking some time,” Shildt said. “The feedback’s a little bit early, but talking to (the Padres’ medical staff), we’ll see how he recovers from it, give him a couple more days. The arm factor, we don’t know what it is exactly. But he did have some elbow tightness, and he got through playing catch, which was a good sign.”

Darvish, 38, is coming off a season in which he recorded a 3.31 ERA and 1.07 WHIP, picking up a 7-3 record across 16 starts.

The Padres will be without starting pitcher Joe Musgrove for the entirety of the 2025 season after he underwent Tommy Johns surgery this offseason. Matt Waldron, who was expected to compete for a spot in the rotation, is also expected to miss the start of the season due to an oblique injury.

Amid all the ailments to San Diego's rotation, the Padres will choose between Kyle Hart, Stephen Kolek and Randy Vásquez to fill the final two spots. Hart signed with San Diego in February after spending last season in the KBO. Kolek appeared 42 times in relief last year, notching a 5.21 ERA and 1.52 WHIP with three wins. Vásquez started 20 games, going 4-7 and recording a 4.87 ERA and 1.51 WHIP.

Whoever doesn't earn a starting spot for the Padres will join San Diego's Triple-A affiliate.