Yu Darvish: Everything you need to know

Darvish (elbow) revealed Tuesday in a social media post that he has resumed playing catch. Though the Padres are currently stashing Darvish on the restricted list rather than the injured list, the 39-year-old righty is slated to miss the entire 2026 season after undergoing an internal brace procedure on his pitching arm in Oct. 29. Just over six months into what will likely be a 12-to-15-month recovery process, Darvish seems to be progressing as expected, and he'll likely advance to throwing off a mound and potentially facing hitters before the end of the season. Darvish still has two years remaining on his contract after this season, but retirement could be a possibility if he doesn't feel he can compete at a high level once he completes his recovery from surgery.

The Padres placed Darvish (elbow) on the restricted list Wednesday. Darvish's placement on the restricted list frees up significant payroll for the Padres as they don't have to pay a salary to the veteran right-hander for as long as he's sidelined, per Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com. Darvish will miss the entire 2026 season after undergoing UCL repair surgery on his right elbow in November, and while he has mulled over retirement, a formal decision has yet to be made by the 39-year-old.

Darvish (elbow) is considering retiring from professional baseball, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. Darvish is slated to earn $46 million over the next three years, but after undergoing UCL repair surgery in November that will cause him to miss all of 2026, the 39-year-old's future in MLB is uncertain. Injuries have limited him to just 31 big-league starts over the past two seasons, during which he's turned in a 4.28 ERA and 1.12 WHIP across 153.2 total innings.