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San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish spoke with the media
during a Padres appearance at Ronald McDonald House in San Diego this week and his comments raised some concerns about his future in San Diego and in MLB.Darvish has been with the Padres since 2021 and spent time with the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers before becoming the ace of the staff in San Diego. Darvish has had health issues in each of the past two seasons and will miss all of 2026 after elbow surgery following the Padres’ postseason series loss against the Cubs in the National League Wild Card Series.
Darvish started 30 games in each of his first two seasons in San Diego, but his games started have steadily declined over the past three seasons. He made 24 starts in 2023, 16 starts in 2024 and 15 starts in 2025. His effectiveness when he has been on the mound has been a bit up and down. In that time, Darvish saw his ERA fall as low as 3.10 in 2022 and rise as high as 5.38 in 2025.
It would appear that his age has caught up with his ability not only to remain effective on the mound, but also to remain healthy. Darvish himself seems to have come to that realization as well based on some of his comments earlier this week. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune quoted Darvish saying, “I don’t feel like I was able to really contribute to the team during that time while I was pitching. In my mind, I was thinking that maybe this could be it for me. So I was kind of, in a way, grinding through the season, trying to get the best out of myself for the team.”
That quote sounds like a 39-year-old pitcher who knows and understands his best years are behind him. Darvish is smart enough, experienced enough and has enough of a repertoire that he could return to the mound for the Padres. The question at this point is “Will he return to the mound?” or “Should he return to the mound?” Only Darvish knows what he will do and he may not even know that yet. There are many more days, weeks and months of rehab before a decision must be made.
Have we seen Darvish take the mound for the last time in San Diego?
