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Players Who Could Move To The 60-Day IL Once Spring Training Begins

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Most of the clubs in the league currently have a full 40-man roster, which means that just about every transaction requires a corresponding move. Some extra roster flexibility is on the way, however. The 60-day injured list goes away five days after the World Series but comes back when pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

Most clubs have a slightly earlier report date this year due to the World Baseball Classic. Last year, the Cubs and Dodgers had earlier report dates because they were had an earlier Opening Day than everyone else as part of the Tokyo Series. Gavin Stone was the first player to land on the 60-day IL in 2025, landing there on February 11th. According to MLB.com, every club has a report date from February 10th to 13th this year.

It’s worth pointing out that the 60 days don’t start being counted until Opening Day. Although a team can transfer a player to the 60-day IL quite soon, they will likely only do so if they aren’t expecting the player back until late May or beyond. A team also must have a full 40-man roster in order to move a player to the 60-day IL.

There are still plenty of free agents still out there, including big names like Framber Valdez, Zac Gallen, Justin Verlander, Chris Bassitt, Lucas Giolito, and more. Perhaps the extra roster flexibility will spur some deals to come together. It could also increase the ability of some clubs to make waiver claims or small trades for players who have been designated for assignment. If a team wants to pass a player through waivers, perhaps they will try to do so in the near future before the extra roster flexibility opens up.

Here are some players who are expected to miss some significant time or who have uncertain recovery timelines from 2025 injuries.

Angels: Anthony Rendon, Ben Joyce

Rendon’s situation is unique. He underwent hip surgery a year ago and missed the entire 2025 season. He is still on the roster and signed through 2026. He and the club have agreed to a salary-deferment plan and he is not expected to be in spring training with the club. His recovery timeline is unclear, but general manager Perry Minasian said earlier this month that Rendon would be “rehabbing at home,” per Alden González of ESPN. If they were going to release him, they likely would have done so by now, so he seems destined for the injured list.

Joyce underwent shoulder surgery in May and missed the remainder of the 2025 season. His current status is unclear. In August, he told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that he didn’t know if he would be ready for spring training. He would only land on the 60-day IL if the Halos don’t expect him back before the end of May.

Astros: Hayden Wesneski, Ronel Blanco, Brandon Walter

All three of these pitchers underwent Tommy John surgery in 2025. Wesneski was first, with his surgery taking place on May 23rd. Blanco followed shortly thereafter in early June. They will likely be targeting returns in the second half. Walter’s procedure was in September, meaning he will likely miss the entire season. All three should be on the 60-day IL as soon as Houston needs roster spots for other transactions.

Athletics: Zack Gelof

Gelof underwent surgery to repair a dislocated shoulder in September, with the expectation of him potentially being healthy for spring training. At the end of December, general manager David Forst told Martín Gallegos of MLB.com that Gelof would be “a little bit behind” in spring. He would only land on the 60-day IL if the A’s think he’ll be out through late May.

Blue Jays: Jake Bloss

Bloss underwent surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow in May. He was on optional assignment at the time and stayed in the minors for the rest of the season. Going into 2026, the Jays could keep him in the minors but they could also call him up and place him on the major league IL. Doing so would open up a roster spot but would also mean giving Bloss big league pay and service time.

Braves: Ha-Seong Kim, AJ Smith-Shawver, Danny Young, Joe Jiménez

Kim recently fell on some ice and injured his hand. He underwent surgery last week, and the expected recovery time is four to five months. The shorter end of that window only goes to mid-May, so perhaps Atlanta will hold off on making a decision until they watch his recovery, especially since they have other guys with clearer injury timelines.

Smith-Shawver underwent Tommy John surgery in June, so he shouldn’t be back until the second half and is therefore a lock for the 60-day IL once Atlanta needs a spot. Young underwent the same procedure in May, so he should also be bound for the IL.

Jimenez is more of a question mark. He missed the 2025 season due to left knee surgery. He required a “cleanup” procedure on that knee towards the end of the season. His timeline isn’t currently clear.

Brewers: None.

Cardinals: None.

Cubs: Justin Steele

Steele will probably be a bit of a borderline case. He underwent UCL surgery in April but it wasn’t a full Tommy John surgery. The Cubs described it as a “revision repair”. Steele had undergone Tommy John in 2017 as a minor leaguer.

Since Steele’s more recent procedure was a bit less serious than a full Tommy John, the club gave an estimated return timeline of about one year, putting him in line to potentially return fairly early in 2026. Given his importance to the Cubs, they would only put him on the 60-day IL if his timeline changes and he’s certain to be out through late May.

Diamondbacks: Corbin Burnes, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., A.J. Puk, Justin Martínez, Blake Walston, Tyler Locklear

The Snakes were hit hard by the injury bug in 2025. Burnes, Walston and Martínez all underwent Tommy John surgery. Burnes and Martínez had their procedures in June, so they should be targeting second-half returns and be easy calls for the 60-day IL. Walston would be a bit more borderline because his surgery was around Opening Day in late March last year. Puk had the slightly less significant internal brace procedure in June, so he could also be a borderline case.

Turning to the position players, Gurriel tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in September. He required surgery which came with a return timeline of nine to ten months, so he should be out until around the All-Star break.

Locklear should be back sooner. He underwent surgery in October to address a ligament tear in his elbow and a labrum injury in his shoulder. The hope at the time of that procedure was that he would be game ready to go on a rehab assignment around Opening Day and would therefore miss only about the first month. He would therefore only hit the 60-day IL if he doesn’t meet that timeline for some reason.

Dodgers: Brock Stewart

Stewart underwent shoulder debridement surgery in September. His timeline for 2026 isn’t especially clear. He will likely start the season on the IL but it’s unclear if he’ll be out long enough to warrant landing on the 60-day version.

Giants: Randy Rodríguez, Jason Foley

Rodríguez underwent Tommy John surgery in September, so he’s a lock for the 60-day IL and might even miss the entire 2026 campaign. Foley’s status is a bit more murky. He underwent shoulder surgery in May while with the Tigers. Detroit non-tendered him at season’s end, which allowed the Giants to sign him. He is expected back at some point mid-season. The Giants may want to get more clarity on his progress during camp before deciding on a move to the IL.

Guardians: Andrew Walters, David Fry

Neither of these guys is a lock for the 60-day IL. Walters had surgery to repair his right lat tendon in June with a recovery estimate of eight to ten months. Fry underwent surgery in October due to a deviated septum and a fractured nose suffered when a Tarik Skubal pitch hit him in the face. His timeline is unclear. It’s possible one or both could be healthy by Opening Day, so relevant updates may be forthcoming when camps open.

Mariners: Logan Evans

Evans required UCL surgery just last week and will miss the entire 2026 season. He was on optional assignment at the end of 2025, so the Mariners could keep him in the minors. Calling him up and putting him on the big league 60-day IL would open up a 40-man spot but would also involve Evans receiving big league pay and service time for the year.

Marlins: Ronny Henriquez

Henriquez underwent internal brace surgery in December and will miss the entire 2026 season, so he’s a lock for the 60-day IL.

Mets: Tylor Megill, Reed Garrett, Dedniel Núñez

All three of these pitchers underwent Tommy John surgery late in 2025 and are likely to miss the entire 2026 season, making them locks for the 60-day IL. Núñez went under the knife in July, followed by Megill in September and Garrett in October.

Nationals: Trevor Williams, DJ Herz

Williams underwent internal brace surgery in July. That’s a slightly less serious variation of Tommy John but still usually requires about a year of recovery. Herz underwent a full Tommy John procedure in April. Since that surgery usually requires 14 months or longer to come back, both pitchers are likely out until around the All-Star break and therefore bound for the 60-day IL once the Nats need some roster spots.

Orioles: Félix Bautista

Bautista underwent shoulder surgery in August, and the club announced his recovery timeline as 12 months. He’s a lock for the 60-day IL and may miss the entire season if his recovery doesn’t go smoothly.

Padres: Yu Darvish, Jhony Brito, Jason Adam

Darvish underwent UCL surgery in November and will miss the entire 2026 season. Instead of going on the IL, he may just retire, but it seems there are some contractual complications to be ironed out since he is signed through 2028.

Brito and Adam could be borderline cases. Brito underwent internal brace surgery in May of last year. Some pitchers can return from that procedure in about a year. Adam ruptured a tendon in his left quad in early September. In November, he seemed to acknowledge that he wouldn’t be ready for Opening Day. As of now, a trip to the 60-day IL seems unlikely unless he suffers a setback.

Pirates: Jared Jones

Jones required UCL surgery on May 21st of last year. The Bucs announced an expected return timeline of 10 to 12 months. The shorter end of that window would allow Jones to return fairly early in 2026. If it looks like he’ll be on the longer end of that time frame, he could wind up on the 60-day IL.

Phillies: Zack Wheeler

Wheeler underwent surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome in September, with a timeline of six to eight months. As of now, it seems unlikely Wheeler would require a trip to the 60-day IL, but it depends on how his ramp-up goes. He’s also approaching his 36th birthday, and the Phils could slow-play his recovery.

Rangers: Cody Bradford

Bradford required internal brace surgery in late June of last year. He recently said he’s targeting a return in May. That’s a pretty aggressive timeline, but perhaps the Rangers will delay moving him to the 60-day IL until that plan is strictly ruled out.

Rays: Manuel Rodríguez

Rodriguez underwent flexor tendon surgery in July of last year and is targeting a return in June of this year, so he should be a lock for the 60-day IL.

Reds: Brandon Williamson, Julian Aguiar

Both of these pitchers required Tommy John surgeries late in 2024, Williamson in September and Aguiar in October. They each missed the entire 2025 season. Presumably, they are recovered by now and could be healthy going into 2026, but there haven’t been any recent public updates.

Red Sox: Tanner Houck, Triston Casas

Houck is the most clear-cut case for Boston. He had Tommy John surgery in August of 2025 and will miss most or perhaps all of the 2026 season. Casas is more borderline. He’s still recovering from a ruptured left patellar tendon suffered in May of last year. It doesn’t seem like he will be ready by Opening Day, but his timeline apart from that is murky.

Rockies: Jeff Criswell, Kris Bryant

Criswell required Tommy John surgery in early March of last year. With the normal 14-month recovery timeline, he could be back in May. Anything slightly longer than that would make him a candidate for the 60-day IL. Bryant’s timeline is very difficult to discern. He has hardly played in recent years due to various injuries and is now dealing with chronic symptoms related to lumbar degenerative disc disease. Updates will likely be provided once camp opens.

Royals: Alec Marsh

Marsh missed 2025 due to shoulder problems and is slated to miss 2026 as well after undergoing labrum surgery in November.

Tigers: Jackson Jobe

Jobe required Tommy John surgery in June of last year. He will miss most or perhaps even all of the 2026 season.

Twins: None.

White Sox: Ky Bush, Drew Thorpe, Prelander Berroa

These three hurlers all required Tommy John surgery about a year ago, Bush in February, followed by Berroa and Thorpe in March. Given the normal 14-month recovery period, any of them could return early in 2026, but they could also end up on the 60-day IL if the timeline pushes slightly beyond that.

Yankees: Clarke Schmidt, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Anthony Volpe

Schmidt is the only lock of this group. He required UCL surgery in July of last year and should miss the first half of the 2026 season. Cole is recovering from Tommy John surgery performed in March of last year. His target is expected to be late May/early June, so he has a decent chance to hit the 60-day. However, given his importance to the club, the Yankees probably won’t put him there until it’s certain he won’t be back by the middle of May.

Rodón had surgery in October to remove loose bodies in his elbow. He’s expected to be back with the big league club in late April or early May, so he would only hit the 60-day IL if his timeline is pushed. Volpe required shoulder surgery in October. He’s not expected to be ready by Opening Day, but his timeline beyond that doesn’t seem concrete.

Photo courtesy of Allan Henry, Imagn Images

Yu Darvish Contemplating Retirement, Has Not Made Final Decision

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7:05 pm: Darvish added in another statement that he and the Padres have discussed terminating his contract since last year, although discussions between those parties and the Players’ Association have not been finalized. He maintained that he wants to pitch again if his rehab goes well. “If I can thoroughly complete my rehab and feel confident that I can pitch in games both mentally and physically, I’d like to start over and compete from scratch again. As for this year, I plan to go to Petco Park for rehab as well, and also attend a bit of spring training.”

5:50 pm: Padres starter Yu Darvish is contemplating retirement, but he has not yet made a final decision. An initial report from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune indicated that Darvish was retiring. Darvish’s agent, Joel Wolfe, refuted that, saying, “Yu has not made a final decision yet. This is a complicated matter we are still working through” (link via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN).

Darvish addressed the situation through a statement on his X account. “Although I am leaning towards voiding the contract,” he said, “there’s still a lot that has to be talked over with the Padres so the finer details are yet to be decided. Also I will not be announcing my retirement yet. Right now I am fully focused on my rehab for my elbow, and if I get to a point where I can throw again, I will start from scratch again to compete. If once I get to that point I feel I can’t do that, I will announce my retirement.”

The 39-year-old right-hander is owed $43MM over 2026-28 from the extension he and the Padres signed in 2023. If he retires without reaching a settlement, he would forfeit that money. As Darvish indicated, he and the Padres may be working on a buyout that would see him keep some portion of his salary while giving the team significant cost savings over the next three years.

If he does decide to retire, he’ll be wrapping up an incredible 21-year career across Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and MLB. In 2005, Darvish made his debut at age 18 for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in NPB. He pitched 94 1/3 innings over 14 starts as a rookie that year, following it up with a 2.89 ERA in 149 2/3 innings in 2006. The Ham Fighters won the Japan Series in the latter year, with Darvish making his first start in Game 1 and earning the win in the clinching Game 5.

From 2007-11, he was absolutely dominant, totaling 1,024 1/3 innings with a 1.72 ERA and 1,083 strikeouts. Darvish was an NPB All-Star in every season in that span, twice being named the Pacific League MVP (2007 and 2009) and winning the Sawamura Award (NPB’s equivalent of the Cy Young) in 2007. His final NPB season in 2011 was sensational. Darvish posted an 18-6 record in a career-high 232 innings with a microscopic 1.44 ERA, along with 276 strikeouts and just five home runs allowed all season.

Following the season, the Ham Fighters made him available to MLB clubs via the posting system. The Texas Rangers outbid the other suitors with a massive $51.7MM posting fee to the Ham Fighters (proportional posting fees not having been established yet). The team ultimately signed Darvish for a six-year, $56MM guarantee.

In his debut MLB season in 2012, Darvish pitched 191 1/3 innings over 29 starts with a 3.90 ERA, a 27.1% strikeout rate, and a stellar 46.2% groundball rate. He made his first playoff start in the AL Wild Card Game against the Orioles, pitching 6 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts and no walks but earning a tough-luck loss. He was valued at 4.7 WAR that year according to FanGraphs, which stands as the highest mark of his career to date. He also earned the first of five All-Star nods in the majors and finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

His 2013 season was just as dominant. Darvish lowered his ERA to 2.83 in 209 2/3 innings as the Rangers’ ace and upped his strikeout rate to 32.9%. He earned his second All-Star nod and finished as the runner-up to Max Scherzer in the AL Cy Young vote, while his 277 strikeouts that year were the best of his MLB career. He was an All-Star again in 2014, but he was placed on the injured list with elbow inflammation in mid-August and missed the rest of the season. He experienced further soreness during Spring Training the following year and ultimately underwent Tommy John surgery, missing the entire 2015 season.

Darvish returned in May 2016 and picked up where he left off. In 100 1/3 innings over 17 starts that year, he posted a 3.41 ERA with a 31.7% strikeout rate and a 7.5% walk rate. He was a bit less effective the following year, with a 4.01 ERA in 22 starts before being sent to the Dodgers at the trade deadline in exchange for three prospects led by Willie Calhoun. Darvish’s strikeout and walk numbers improved in nine regular-season starts in Los Angeles, but he struggled in the World series against the Astros with subpar starts in Games 3 and 7.

Still, Darvish’s track record as a front-of-the-rotation arm made him a top target in free agency. In February 2018, he signed a six-year, $126MM deal to join the Cubs. He wound up spending 2018-20 on the North Side. He struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness in 2018, pitching just 40 innings over eight starts. He rebounded in 2019 with a 3.98 ERA and a 31.3% strikeout rate in 178 2/3 innings. In 12 starts during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he was utterly dominant with a 2.01 ERA and just a 4.7% walk rate, finishing second in the NL Cy Young vote.

The Cubs traded Darvish to the Padres that December, and he has been with San Diego ever since. Darvish’s strikeouts began to wane in his mid-30s, but he compensated by improving his control. From 2021-25, his walk rate sat in the 6% range and never topped 7.5% in a season (2023). His best Padres season to date was in 2022, as Darvish made 30 starts with a 3.10 ERA and a 20.8% K-BB rate, the latter being ninth-best among qualified starters.

The club was confident enough in his performance to extend him heading into 2023. The deal was for six years and $108MM, of which five years and $90MM were new money. In the first three years of that deal, Darvish has made 55 starts with a 4.41 ERA while struggling with injuries. He made five trips to the IL from 2024-25, most recently for an internal brace procedure on his throwing elbow this past October. While coming with a shorter recovery period than a second Tommy John surgery, Darvish was still set to miss the entire 2026 season regardless.

In an interview last month, Darvish indicated that he was focused on getting healthy and returning to pitching, though a later report from Acee indicated that retirement was on the table. This latest update suggests that Darvish is contemplating the end of his career, but that he is still open to returning if his rehab goes well. Further details could be made public soon, pending the outcome of his talks with the Padres.

Photo courtesy of David Banks, Imagn Images

Padres Notes: King, Kelly, Darvish

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The Padres reunited with Michael King this past week on a three-year deal that offers him the opportunity to opt out in each of the next two offseasons. As noted by Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union Tribune, however, negotiations between the two sides didn’t kick into gear until very recently.

Sanders notes that president of baseball operations A.J. Preller instructed manager Craig Stammen and pitching coach Ruben Niebla to message King less than two weeks ago to see if King was interested in returning to San Diego. At the outset of the offseason, the right-hander initially preferred a return to the east coast, where he pitched for years with the Yankees after growing up in Rhode Island and going to college in Boston. King indicated to reporters (including Sanders) that while some teams had “blown [him] away” with strong offers, he didn’t believe those teams had the roster and commitment to winning necessary to field a World Series contender in 2026. King added that he was prioritizing winning “for the duration of the contract,” and that he was willing to take less in order to make that happen.

It seems that ended up being what he did with San Diego, which Sanders adds was the only west coast team King had interest in playing for. While King’s $75MM guarantee came in just shy of the $80MM guarantee MLBTR predicted for the right-hander at the outset of the offseason, it’s nonetheless a strong deal given the higher average annual value and opt-out opportunities after each season. With that said, King clearly was trending towards a nine-figure contract prior to his injury woes this past season. It’s not inconceivable that there was a team willing to look past the medical concerns and offer him that sort of deal this winter, given King’s comments. The Marlins, Cubs, Orioles, Yankees, and Red Sox were among the teams known to have interest in King’s services this winter, though Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the Yankees ultimately never made an offer to the righty.

With King in the fold alongside Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove, Preller indicated that he’s satisfied with the front of the club’s rotation. It seems the Padres had a strong desire to add to the front of their rotation this winter, however, as Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports that San Diego made a “competitive” offer to right-hander Merrill Kelly before landing King. Kelly ultimately landed with the Diamondbacks on a two-year, $40MM deal. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal recently reported that Kelly received a three-year offer from a west coast team that would’ve guaranteed the right-hander “more than $50MM,” and it’s not clear if the Padres were the team references in Rosenthal’s report, it certainly wouldn’t be a shock if the “competitive” offer Lin reports that San Diego made to Kelly was in that ballpark. A three-year offer in that range could theoretically have been similar to the four-year, $55MM contract the team signed Pivetta to last winter.

Perhaps Preller’s desire to add a front-of-the-rotation arm this winter in part stems from uncertainty surrounding Yu Darvish’s future. The veteran right-hander underwent UCL surgery last month that will keep him out of commission for at least the entire 2026 campaign. What’s more, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported earlier this week that Darvish is not certain if he’ll pitch again following his rehab process. The 39-year-old hurler was limited to 15 starts this past year due to injury and struggled when he did take the mound, with a 5.38 ERA in 72 innings of work. Given that he’ll celebrate his 41st birthday during the 2027 season, it’s perhaps not a shock that Darvish is uncertain about his ability to return to a major league mound after this latest health-related setback.

Of course, the possibility of Darvish stepping away from baseball is complicated by his contract situation. The veteran righty is under contract for $16MM in 2026 and is set to make $15MM per year in both 2027 and 2028. If Darvish were to retire, as Acee has reported he’s contemplating, he would stand to lose out on at least some of that money. It’s also possible that Darvish and the Padres could negotiate a buyout, not unlike the process the Angels and Anthony Rendon are reportedly in the midst of ahead of the final year of his contract with the organization. Perhaps that sort of buyout could help create financial flexibility for the budget-conscious Padres, who have had to get creative with their contracts in recent years in order to remain competitive and continue spending in free agency.

Yu Darvish Undergoes UCL Surgery, Will Miss Entire 2026 Season

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The Padres announced that right-hander Yu Darvish underwent surgery last Wednesday to fix a damaged right UCL and flexor tendon.  The procedure was an internal brace surgery instead of a full Tommy John surgery, yet the outcome is still the same — Darvish will miss the entire 2026 season while recovering.

This will be the second entirely lost year of Darvish’s career, as he missed all of 2015 due to a Tommy John procedure.  He has had some bouts of elbow soreness in the decade since that surgery, most prominently a stint on the 60-day injured list this season stemming from a bout of elbow inflammation that arose during Spring Training.

It wasn’t until July 7 that Darvish finally made his season debut for the Padres, and he clearly didn’t look 100 percent while posting a 5.38 ERA over 15 starts and 72 innings.  Small sample size notwithstanding, Darvish’s 23% strikeout rate was the lowest of his 13 MLB seasons, and his chase and whiff rates were far below average.  His 6.4% walk rate was still quite strong and Darvish did a very good job of limiting hard contact overall, but batters tended to thrive when actually squaring up on the veteran, as Darvish allowed 14 homers over his 72 frames.

Beyond these statistics, perhaps the most prominent numbers are 39 (Darvish’s age) and 3119.  The latter figure is the total number of innings Darvish has amassed over 20 total seasons pitching in the Major League regular season and postseason, as well as seven seasons in Japan with the Nippon-Ham Fighters.  Darvish will be 40 years old on Opening Day 2027 and it is anyone’s guess how he could perform after such a long layoff.

Last month, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune addressed the possibility of Darvish’s retirement, writing that “there has been talk for more than a year about the possibility he could retire at any time,” and that “Darvish has not made any assurances about completing his contract.”  The fact that Darvish has undergone this surgery would surely indicate that he wants to keep pitching, though any setbacks in rehab could perhaps create fresh doubt in the right-hander’s mind.

Darvish signed a contract extension with the Padres in April 2023, and he is still owed $43MM over the course of the 2026-28 seasons.  The $15MM owed to him in 2026 is now a wash, and retiring outright would mean that Darvish is voluntarily walking away from his remaining two years of salary.  The likelier outcome in the event that Darvish is unable to keep playing is that some kind of deferred buyout agreement is made with the Padres so that Darvish will still get his money over a longer period of time.

Given Darvish’s injury history, he was already viewed as a question mark for San Diego’s rotation heading into 2026.  Now that the question has been answered in the most unfortunate way possible, the Padres will go into next season with just two (Nick Pivetta and Randy Vasquez) of the seven pitchers who made the most starts for the team in 2025.  Dylan Cease and Michael King are free agents, Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert were traded to the Royals at the deadline. and now Darvish has been sidelined by his UCL repair.

Next year’s rotation projects as Pivetta, Vasquez, deadline pickup JP Sears, Joe Musgrove in his return from Tommy John surgery, and a fifth starter role that could be contested between Matt Waldron, Kyle Hart, or (more intriguingly) star relievers Mason Miller or Adrian Morejon.  San Diego was already expected to add at least one starter to this mix even before Darvish’s injury news surfaced, so the team’s search for rotation help will now be even more pronounced.

Inset image courtesy of Denis Poroy — Imagn Images

A.J. Preller Discusses Padres’ Rotation

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Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller met with reporters (including Dennis Lin of The Athletic and Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune) on Tuesday afternoon. While the ramifications of Mike Shildt’s resignation were the main topic, Preller also touched on the Friars’ uncertain rotation going into 2026.

San Diego’s front office leader acknowledged that the starting staff “is a clear area of need” as they face free agent losses of Dylan Cease and Michael King. Cease is a lock to reject a qualifying offer and has long seemed likely to sign elsewhere. King will decline his end of a mutual option in favor of a $3.75MM buyout. The Padres seem likely to issue him a QO as well, and there’s a good chance he rejects that even after an injury-riddled season.

The Padres could try to bring King back. He was on track for a nine-figure deal until he suffered a nerve injury in his throwing shoulder. That initially seemed to be a minor concern but wound up costing him almost three months. King missed a couple more weeks in August with knee inflammation and did not look as sharp in September. The Padres didn’t fully trust him in the postseason, using him out of the bullpen in the Wild Card Series. It’s possible the rocky finish drops King from a five- or six-year asking price to a two- or three-year deal with opt-outs. That could be more in the Padres’ financial wheelhouse than a $125-150MM commitment would have been had King stayed healthy.

For the time being, the Padres need to operate as if Cease and King will not be back. That leaves Nick Pivetta as the clear #1 starter. Joe Musgrove should be on track for Opening Day after undergoing Tommy John surgery during last year’s postseason. The Padres could keep an eye on his innings total, however.

Yu Darvish is signed for three more years but is coming off a 5.38 earned run average and entering his age-39 season. Randy Vásquez made 26 starts with a sub-4.00 ERA without missing any bats. Deadline pickup JP Sears was rocked over five MLB starts after the trade. He’s not a lock to be tendered a contract at a projected $3.5MM arbitration salary. The Padres should decline their $5MM option on Kyle Hart, while Matt Waldron is on the roster bubble after struggling in Triple-A.

It’s a thin group after the Padres traded Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek to the Royals for catcher Freddy Fermin at the deadline. That’s true even assuming Darvish returns. Kevin Acee of The Union-Tribune wrote earlier this month that Darvish has not firmly stated that he’ll play out his entire contract, which runs through the end of the 2028 season. The veteran righty missed most of the first half to elbow inflammation and just had the worst numbers of his career.

Preller didn’t provide many specifics but noted that he has had some conversations with Darvish early in the offseason. “We’ll keep talking to him over the course of the next couple of weeks to see what it all means for him,” he added. It doesn’t appear that Darvish has made any decision, but that’s another question hanging over an already light starting five.

It’s a familiar position for the Friars, who seemingly enter each offseason with one or two rotation holes and uncertainty about their ability to add short-term financial commitments. Two years ago, that manifested in building the Juan Soto return around King and pulling off a Spring Training deal to land Cease from the White Sox. They waited out the market last offseason to add Pivetta on a heavily backloaded four-year free agent contract.

The Padres have also had a decent amount of success building relievers back into starting pitchers. They gave Seth Lugo that opportunity after he spent years as a reliever with the Mets. King flourished in San Diego after beginning a rotation experiment with the Yankees. Kolek clearly wasn’t as impactful as Lugo or King had been, yet he also found enough success as a starter to pique the Royals’ interest in talks on Fermin.

That history led to speculation about the Padres giving Mason Miller another rotation look as soon as San Diego landed him from the A’s. Miller has been arguably the most dominant reliever in MLB over the past two seasons. He had limited rotation experience — 15 starts in the minors and six starts as a rookie — before the A’s moved him to the bullpen.

That wasn’t a question of talent so much as durability. Miller had fought shoulder and elbow injuries in the minors and lost most of his rookie season in 2023 to forearm tightness. He has stayed healthy as a reliever aside from a three-week absence in ’24 when he fractured his non-throwing hand (reportedly after hitting a table in frustration following a poor outing).

Adrian Morejon has been a full-time reliever for almost four seasons. He also moved to relief because of health concerns but had been a top starting pitching prospect. He had multiple shoulder and elbow injuries, one of which required Tommy John surgery in 2021. Morejon has been healthy for consecutive seasons and developed into one of the game’s best relievers. He’s coming off his first All-Star season and just fired 73 2/3 innings of 2.08 ERA ball in 75 appearances.

Preller didn’t commit to roles for either pitcher but left open the possibility of stretching one or both back out. “We’ll definitely get Mason’s thoughts and hear what he thinks is best. We’ll see how the offseason plays out, roster-wise. Then we’ll have some clear direction for him of what that looks like,” he said regarding Miller. Preller expressed a similar sentiment on Morejon. “(He’s) a lefty that’s throwing three plus pitches with command and the ability to use him in different places in the game. I think that’ll be a conversation as we get into it, similar to Mason, about what that looks like here for next year.”

Moving either pitcher to the rotation would obviously deal a significant hit to a bullpen that was the best in MLB over the season’s last two months. The Padres already seem likely to lose closer Robert Suarez, who’ll opt out of the remaining two years and $16MM on his deal and could command upwards of $15MM annually on a two-year contract in free agency.

Miller would be the heir apparent in the ninth inning if he’s not starting. If they move Miller to the rotation, Jeremiah Estrada probably becomes the favorite to close. Jason Adam could be in the mix as well, but he’s coming back from a season-ending quad rupture. David Morgan and Bradgley Rodriguez showed late-inning potential as rookies and could pitch their way into leverage roles if they’re able to throw enough strikes.

Padres Activate Yu Darvish

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July 7: San Diego officially reinstated Darvish from the 60-day IL. Lefty Kyle Hart was optioned to Triple-A El Paso to make room on the active roster. To clear the necessary 40-man roster spot, the Friars moved Michael King from the 15-day to the 60-day IL.

It’s a procedural move for King. The 60-day count backdates to his original IL placement, which was retroactive to May 22. He’ll technically be eligible to return two weeks from now. King won’t be ready by then anyhow as he works back from a nerve issue in his throwing shoulder. He has made progress, however, as the team revealed this evening that he’s set to throw off a mound for the first time on Thursday (relayed by Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune). He’ll need to progress through multiple bullpen and live batting practice sessions before he’s ready to embark on a minor league assignment.

July 6: Yu Darvish is set to make his first big league appearance of 2025, as Padres manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune) that the right-hander will be activated from the 60-day injured list to start Monday’s game with the Diamondbacks.  Darvish developed elbow inflammation in the middle of March, and the veteran’s recovery process ended up costing him over half of the season.

The exact nature of Darvish’s progress was kept somewhat vague.  Shildt has said the team trusted Darvish to essentially manage his own rehab since the pitcher obviously knows the most about how his arm is feeling, and how much ramp-up work is required.  Darvish only pitched in one minor league rehab game back on May 14, though continued soreness in his elbow put his rehab on hold and delayed any plans for a return to the Padres’ rotation.

Acee writes that Darvish tossed two simulated games in the last 12 days, and hit the 64-pitch mark in his most recent outing.  This seems to have checked the final box for Darvish to be activated, and he’ll jump right into the deep end in a big NL West matchup.  San Diego is four games ahead of 44-46 Arizona in the standings, and the Padres would naturally love to further knock their division rivals further out of wild card contention.

It wouldn’t be surprising if it takes a start or two for Darvish to knock the rust off, but in general, getting a frontline pitcher back is naturally a big plus for the Padres.  Even with Darvish out, Michael King to the IL since late May, and Dylan Cease battling through an inconsistent season, San Diego has kept afloat with a makeshift rotation.  Nick Pivetta is enjoying a tremendous debut season in a Padres uniform, and Stephen Kolek and Randy Vasquez have held the fort over their starts, despite some shaky peripheral statistics.  The Padres’ excellent bullpen has also been instrumental in bolstering the pitching staff as a whole.

2025 will mark Darvish’s 20th professional season, counting his seven years in Nippon Professional Baseball and his 12 previous MLB campaigns.  Darvish turns 39 next month but appears to still have plenty left in the tank, as evidenced by the 3.31 ERA he posted over 81 2/3 frames for the Padres last season (and his 1.98 ERA in 13 2/3 playoff innings).  As Acee notes, Darvish has been bothered by elbow problems throughout his time in San Diego, and both the pitcher and the team are focused on having him healthy and ready for the playoff stretch and throughout October.

Padres Select Bryce Johnson

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The Padres announced they’ve selected outfielder Bryce Johnson onto the big league roster. Catcher Luis Campusano has been optioned to Triple-A El Paso as the corresponding active roster move. Right-hander Yu Darvish has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.

Johnson gives the Friars some extra outfield depth after they lost Jackson Merrill to the concussion-related injured list over the weekend. Campusano hadn’t been playing much as a third catcher behind Elias Díaz and Martín Maldonado, so it made more sense to add another outfielder to the bench. Tyler Wade and Brandon Lockridge are likely to split the center field reps, but Johnson adds a switch-hitting bat to Mike Shildt’s outfield mix.

It’ll be the second Padres stint for the 29-year-old Johnson. He appeared in 47 games and tallied a career-high 73 plate appearances with the Friars a year ago. Johnson was non-tendered at season’s end and landed with the Pirates on a minor league deal. The Padres brought him back in April in a minor league swap for depth catcher Brett Sullivan. (Today has been less kind to Sullivan, who was designated for assignment by Pittsburgh this afternoon.) Johnson has spent the bulk of the season in El Paso, where he’s hitting .303/.407/.458 with three homers and 10 steals. He’s out of minor league options, though, so they’d need to run him back through waivers to take him off the active roster.

Darvish’s IL transfer is just a formality. It backdates to Opening Day, so it doesn’t affect his eligibility for reinstatement. It’s still not clear when he’ll be ready to return. According to the MLB.com injury tracker, he made it through a simulated game on Saturday.

Latest On Yu Darvish

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Yu Darvish’s 2025 debut may be getting closer, as the veteran right-hander threw 48 pitches over three innings of a simulated-game situation on Thursday at the Padres’ Spring Training facility.  Darvish has spent the entire season on the injured list after developing elbow inflammation during spring camp in mid-March, but despite the long layoff, Padres manager Mike Shildt told MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell and other reporters that he doesn’t believe Darvish will need much rehab time before making his return to the San Diego roster.

While no specific timeline has been established, Shildt said the team might have Darvish undergo the final stages of rebuilding his arm strength while pitching Major League innings, rather than embarking on a lengthy minor league rehab assignment.  Assuming all is well with Darvish physically, Shildt said the club trusts that Darvish’s veteran know-how would allow him to properly ramp up on the fly while pitching in games.  The Padres would manage Darvish’s workload via inning limits and pitch counts, but even a somewhat limited version of Darvish would still be very helpful for an upcoming busy stretch of the schedule.  As Cassavell notes, the Padres have a stretch of 26 games in 27 days beginning on May 30.

Before such plans can be put into place, of course, Darvish will have to continue taking positive steps in his pitching progression.  Some level of minor league game activity seems likely, as Shildt said that Darvish will have to build up to an 80-pitch limit.  The 38-year-old Darvish has already been thrown multiple bullpen sessions, and Thursday marked the first time since the spring that he faced live batters.

This is the third straight season that Darvish has dealt with some type of elbow problem.  The most serious of the injuries was an olecranon stress reaction that ended his 2023 season in August, and the righty has battled inflammation in each of the last two years.  Darvish also had IL stints in 2024 due to a neck strain and two groin strains, and he also missed more time due to an undisclosed family issue.

Given how Darvish pitched only 95 1/3 innings in 2024 between the regular season and the playoffs, it is perhaps a little surprising that (for now) the Padres aren’t planning for a longer rehab stint in the wake of his latest injury.  Still, Darvish did get most of his Spring Training work in before his elbow inflammation arose, and obviously the Padres aren’t going to take any undue risk with Darvish’s health.

It is perhaps telling that San Diego has kept Darvish just on the 15-day injured list since Opening Day, as a placement on the 60-day IL would mean Darvish can’t be activated until the last week of May.  Since that might end up being Darvish’s timeline anyway, the Friars might well shift Darvish to the 60-day purely for procedural reasons if the team is in need of an extra 40-man roster spot.  But, Darvish’s continued stay on the 15-day IL gives the Padres some flexibility in bringing him back even earlier than that 26 games-in-27 day stretch.

The 24-13 Padres have gotten by just fine without Darvish to date, but needless to say, the rotation will look a lot stronger with the five-time All-Star back in the ranks.  Michael King and Nick Pivetta have both been excellent, but Dylan Cease has been uncharacteristically shaky (despite some strong peripherals), and Randy Vasquez’s shaky peripherals undermine his solid 3.76 ERA.  Multiple off-days in the last two weeks have allowed the Padres to get by without a proper fifth starter for a while, but Stephen Kolek is now lined up to take that role, and he is today’s scheduled starter against the Rockies.

Darvish had a 3.31 ERA over his 81 2/3 frames of regular-season work in 2024, with a 6.6% walk rate that was solidly above average, even if his 23.6% strikeout rate was only slightly above the league-wide midpoint and he allowed much more hard contact than usual. A sharp dropoff can arise suddenly for any pitcher as he ages, and Darvish has already been testing Father Time just by making it into his age-38 season.  This said, the Padres only need Darvish to be a solid mid-rotation arm rather than an ace, and it seems quite possible that he can reach or better that status if he can avoid the injury bug.

Yu Darvish To Begin Season On Injured List

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Right-hander Yu Darvish will begin the season on the injured list. Manager Mike Shildt informed reporters today, including Dennis Lin of The Athletic and AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. The righty was diagnosed with elbow inflammation earlier this week. “We feel pretty comfortable that some rest and getting ramped back up will be the answer,” Shildt says. That doesn’t point to a long absence but it will leave two rotation spots for the trio of Kyle Hart, Stephen Kolek and Randy Vásquez.

Darvish has been dealing with occasional bouts of elbow inflammation for a while now. He finished the 2023 season on the IL due to inflammation in that right elbow. In 2024, he missed time due to various issues. He had some neck tightness, a groin strain, an undisclosed family issue and some more elbow inflammation. He was limited to 81 2/3 innings last year.

Though Shildt downplayed the severity, it’s a somewhat concerning situation. Any injury to a pitcher’s throwing elbow is somewhat alarming. In the case of Darvish, the elbow problems are becoming somewhat frequent and he’s going to turn 39 years old in August.

The San Diego rotation has been an ongoing point of focus. Joe Musgrove required Tommy John surgery in October, blowing a big hole in the 2025 staff. That left them with a front three of Darvish, Dylan Cease and Michael King. They signed Nick Pivetta in the offseason to take a fourth spot.

That left guys like Matt Waldron, Hart, Kolek and Vásquez as contenders for the final rotation spot. But Waldron is on the shelf due to an oblique strain and now Darvish is out. That appears to leave two rotation spots for the Hart/Kolek/Vásquez trio.

Hart has almost no major league experience but dominated in Korea last year. He tossed 157 innings in the KBO with a 2.69 earned run average, 28.8% strikeout rate, 6% walk rate and 46% ground ball rate. That led to a deal with the Padres but he was slowed in camp by the flu. He only made his spring debut on Sunday, tossing three innings.

Kolek just made his big league debut last year, as a Rule 5 pick out of the Mariners organization. He stuck in the San Diego bullpen all year and posted a 5.21 ERA, though with better peripherals. His .359 batting average on balls in play and 64.3% strand rate were both on the unlucky side, so he had a 3.57 FIP and and 3.41 SIERA. He has been getting stretched out in camp and has a 2.19 ERA in 12 1/3 innings.

Vásquez had a 4.87 ERA over 20 starts for the Friars last year. He has only thrown four innings of official Cactus League action, having allowed two earned runs with three strikeouts and one walk. His last official outing was March 2 but he has been throwing on backfields and in sim games.

Yu Darvish Questionable For Opening Day Due To Elbow Inflammation

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Padres right-hander Yu Darvish has recently been slowed in camp. While it was initially conveyed that he had some general fatigue, manager Mike Shildt today provided a more specific and more ominous diagnosis. The skipper told members of the media, including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, that the veteran righty experienced elbow inflammation after his last start.

Shildt stopped short of saying Darvish would start the season on the injured list, describing him as day-to-day. Opening Day is just over a week away, so it’s a tight window. Any time a pitcher’s throwing elbow is involved, it’s a cause for some concern. In the case of Darvish, there may be even more concern than with some other hurlers.

Darvish has dealt with some elbow problems in the past. Tommy John surgery wiped out his entire 2015 season. He was largely health for years after that, though he hasn’t logged a huge workload in the past two seasons. He was capped at 24 starts and 136 1/3 innings in 2023. He landed on the IL in late August due to right elbow inflammation and stayed there to finish the year. In 2024, he only made 16 starts and tossed 81 2/3 innings. He missed time due to neck tightness, a groin strain, some more inflammation in that throwing elbow and an undisclosed personal issue.

That makes this the third straight season that Darvish has battled some elbow inflammation. For a pitcher who is now 38 years old, that’s less than ideal. It’s especially worrisome since rotation depth is one of the key issues on the San Diego roster. The Friars already lost Joe Musgrove for the entire season, as he required Tommy John surgery in October.

Losing Musgrove left the Padres with a rotation core of Darvish, Michael King and Dylan Cease. They signed Nick Pivetta to fill one of the back-end spots. Coming into camp, candidates for the final spot including Matt Waldron, Kyle Hart, Randy Vásquez and Stephen Kolek. However, Waldron is out of commission due to an oblique strain. Hart has also been delayed by the flu and is behind the rest of the group in terms of building up. If Darvish needs to miss some time at the start of the season, that would seemingly leave two spots open behind the King/Cease/Pivetta trio.

If it’s just a short-term absence, the overall group could look stronger in a few weeks, with both Waldron and Darvish perhaps back in the mix. A more serious issue would naturally have bigger impacts. Both Cease and King are impending free agents. That means Pivetta and Darvish are the on-paper rotation nucleus for 2026. Musgrove could be back in the mix by then but may have some workload issues after missing all of 2025. Darvish is still under contract through 2028, as part of the extension he signed with the club in 2023.

It’s also possible this could impact the trade market. San Diego has notable budgetary concerns and various parts of the roster they would like to upgrade. That has led to rumors about Cease or King being available, though Cease’s name has come up far more often. It would be a tricky balance for San Diego to strike, as they would have to feel that reducing their rotation depth is worth it for multiple upgrades at left field, first base or designated hitter.

Presumably, Darvish being hurt would reduce the chances of a Cease deal in the short term, as it would be even harder to justify a rotation subtraction. Closer to the deadline, that calculus could change if the Padres don’t manage to compete. As mentioned, both Cease and King are impending free agents and would be natural trade candidates this summer if San Diego slips behind the other National League contenders.

Photo courtesy Mark J. Rebilas of Imagn Images

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