The San Diego Padres woke up to bad news and a vow. Starting pitcher Yu Darvish had right-elbow surgery, flexor tendon repair with an internal UCL brace, and he’s out for 2026. The vow? At 39, after 13 MLB seasons and a lifetime of reinventions, he says he’s not done. A rotation that was already teetering just became a full-on rebuild.
In a year when A.J. Preller must rebuild a staff with Michael King and Dylan Cease headed to free agency, losing Darvish’s innings, presence, and shape-shifting pitch mix removes one of the few stabilizers the Padres could reasonably bank on.