CHICAGO -- One day after Yu Darvish threw his latest bullpen session, looking ahead to returning to the mound with a rehab start April 26, the Texas Rangers announced his first rehab start will be pushed back another five days to May 1.
After Thursday's outing, Darvish expressed dissatisfaction with the 47-pitch session, noting that not all of his pitches were where he wanted them to be, especially his curveball and his changeup. That dissatisfaction led to the decision to push his first live-game experience back to his next scheduled appearance the following Sunday. Darvish still will pitch Tuesday, but he will throw a longer bullpen session than he did Thursday, with four innings and 60 pitches as the goal.
"He just felt like he needed another bullpen session," Rangers pitching coach Doug Brocail said. "He felt that he was strong [Thursday], but he wasn't real happy where his off-speed [stuff] was. The nice thing is that this doesn't set him back at all. Instead of going two [innings] and 30 [pitches in a game Tuesday], we're going to go four and 60 this time. That means his next outing will be three and 45 so he stays on schedule."
The expectation is that Darvish will throw this new, longer bullpen session Tuesday in Arlington while the Rangers are at home before reporting to Double-A Frisco to make his first appearance in a game.
This does not mean Darvish's potential return to action is off track. The new schedule means he'll throw seven innings across six days between the bullpen session and his first rehab start, and that could line up Darvish for a return to the Rangers as soon as May 16 after three rehab starts, with the potential to expand his rehab assignment to a full 30 days and six turns, depending on how he feels.
"He could be [back that soon], but we're not counting on that," Brocail said. "But if he comes back and says, 'Hey man, I'm ready to go,' the horse is out of the stable, you gotta let him run. If he says he needs another [rehab start] after five and 75, then he gets another one, and we move on to a later date."
May 16 is still in play for Darvish's potential return to the big league rotation because if his first three rehab starts go well, he will have reached yardsticks for performance that might add up to his availability.
Brocail allowed for this ideal scenario, noting, "Yes, because that would be six and 90; whether we do six and 90 in the big leagues or six and 90 in the minor leagues, it's up to him, how he feels, how he rebounds. Because when he throws in that five and 75 [outing], it's a day off and then he has to throw a bullpen. There's not going to be a day off, long toss, 'I'll see.' That bullpen has to be thrown so that we and upstairs know that he's good."
But first, Darvish will have to overcome his frustrations with his off-speed stuff, especially the curveball.
"This guy spins the ball very well," Brocail said. "Once he gets the feel of getting out over ... he has his changeup, cutter and his fastball right now, pretty good slider and cutter. He felt like the curveball was off, the changeup on occasion gets a little short, just because he hasn't been throwing. He's got the fastball, the cutter and the slider. He's just not feeling too sure about the changeup and the curveball."
Asked whether Darvish was perhaps being too hard on himself and judgmental of his own performance, Brocail acknowledged the possibility, saying, "Probably, and I had to explain to him that, I don't care if he has all seven pitches. I'd rather he come back and get the strength part of it, the endurance. Actually, this doesn't set us back at all. It doesn't matter which way he wanted to go with it."
Manager Jeff Banister chimed in as well, saying, "It's still part of the process. Live BP, it doesn't really impact or change the schedule. As long as he hits the days, feels good, the responsiveness of his arm and body, physically, that's more important than anything else.
"I don't have any anticipation [about Darvish]. When he's ready, obviously he'll impact our ballclub, our rotation, but what I've learned about anticipation is it creates an energy level that is unnecessary. I have a lot of other things I need to concentrate on other than anticipation."