UPDATE (Aug. 19, 1:05 p.m. PT): The Los Angeles Dodgers officially placed Yu Darvish on the 10-day disabled list (retroactive to Thursday, Aug. 17) with lower back tightness. Edward Paredes was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Little, if anything, went according to plan for Yu Darvish in his debut this week at Dodger Stadium. After producing back-to-back starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers with 10 strikeouts, he managed to punchout only two over six innings of work.
That snapped Darvish’s streak of recording at least three strikeouts in each of his previous 124 career starts in the Majors. He also surrendered a home run on the first pitch of the game and allowed a total of three homers to the Chicago White Sox.
Of most importance, however, was Darvish exited prior to beginning the seventh inning due to back tightness. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called the move precautionary and added the right-hander was expected to make his next start.
That no longer appears to the be the case, as Darvish is still dealing with tightness and will likely be replaced by Brock Stewart for Tuesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, according to Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
Residual tightness in back so Yu Darvish likely to skip start #Dodgers.
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) August 19, 2017
Brock Stewart likely to replace Darvish in #Dodgers rotation in Pittsburgh. Darvish pencilled in for following Sunday
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) August 19, 2017
Considering he’d only thrown 90 pitches, Darvish began to warm up for the seventh inning with the hope his back would loosen up. His initial thought was to push through the matter, but a conversation with Clayton Kershaw helped change that decision.
With a commanding lead in the National League West, the Dodgers are afforded the luxury of erring on the side of caution with Darvish. Just as they have with Kershaw and his recovery from a lower back strain.
The duo is expected to anchor the starting rotation come October, forming a tandem not seen since Zack Greinke signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Assuming Darvish makes the Aug. 27 start at home against the Milwaukee Brewers, he will be pitching on 10 days’ rest.
