Fantasy Baseball: Yu Darvish MRI reveals no damage, resume throwing Saturday
By Matt Shetler
Mar 10, 2014; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish (11) in the dugout after his start against the Cincinnati Reds at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Yesterday I looked at the fact that Texas Rangers’ ace Yu Darvish had been scratched from his scheduled Opening Day start due to neck and back issues.
However fantasy baseball owners can breathe a sigh of relief today as according to Drew Davidson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Darvish received some good news when his MRI revealed no structural damage in his neck.
Darvish is able to resume throwing on Saturday, but likely will still begin the season on the disabled list.
#Rangers received good news on Darvish, no structural damage. Will long toss Saturday, but still seems likely to begin season on DL.
— Drew Davison (@drewdavison) March 26, 2014
However while Darvish has a somewhat clean bill of health for now, there is still plenty of room to be concerned.
This is the fourth time in two years that Darvish has experienced some type of health problems and you would be kidding yourself to thin that his back troubles won’t creep up again sometime this season.
But the news is good news for now if you drafted Darvish already or are preparing to do so in the upcoming days.
Darvish is coming off a season in which he went 13-9 with a 2.83 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. He also struck out a league leading 277 batters in 209.2 innings pitched.
Considering Darvish on average was the second pitcher off the board in most drafts, early injury news is something that fantasy owners need to be very concerned about, but it looks as if he will be ready to go early on into the season.
In the meantime, the Rangers named first-time starter Tanner Scheppers their opening day starting pitcher as they completely overhauled the rotation.
Scheppers will start on March 31 against Philadelphia and will be followed by Martin Perez, Robbie Ross and Joe Saunders. Nick Martinez, who pitched at Class A and Double A last year, will have the fifth spot for the start of the season.
It may mean as little as one start as the Rangers are hopeful Colby Lewis can be back by April 11. The Rangers current plan is for Martinez, 23, to pitch the fifth game of the season rather than to be skipped.