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The San Diego Padres are hanging tough in the postseason picture, but games like the one they had on Thursday night against the St. Louis Cardinals won't help much in aiding their cause. Starting pitcher Yu Darvish, who's only making his fourth start of the season after getting a late start to 2025 due to an elbow injury, may be too far gone. In just 3.1 innings of work, Darvish allowed eight earned runs on eight hits, two walks, while striking out just three in a 9-7 loss to the Cardinals.
Darvish is already 38 years of age, so it's not like it's a major shock to see him decline and pitch relatively more poorly than he did when he was younger. But the Padres are in the middle of a playoff race and cannot afford such putrid outings from their starting pitcher. The Padres' offense kept them close, but still, the standards for this team have to be much higher.
Padres fans worry that Yu Darvish may be completely washed-up
In 100 starts as a member of the Padres prior to 2025, Darvish recorded an ERA of 3.79 in 579.0 innings of work while striking out 615 batters. Darvish has been consistent for the Padres, although over the past two seasons, he's dealt with his fair share of injuries, which might be catching up to him.
Darvish's ERA on the season has now ballooned to 9.18, and simply put, he has to figure it out, and fast, especially for a Padres team that needs every win it can get to make the playoffs in a loaded division. His track record suggests that there should be positive regression for him in the near future, but with injuries and age, it is possible that he no longer returns to form.
And the prospect of that has elicited so much concern out of Padres fans.
“Missed the Padres game, but I’m trying to piece together what happened through the box score. I think it’s time for Yu Darvish to retire,” X user @JaySiskin wrote.
“This might really be the end of our good friend Yu Darvish….” @DevineGospel added.
“Much as i love Darvish, we cant deny that hes still struggling after the injury. 8 ER in 3 innings is not normal of Yu. [Padres] can never be consistent smh,” @joester199 furthered.
“Yu Darvish has been a good Padre but the long stints on IL last year and into this season show that retirement is sadly getting close,” @sdfan21 pointed out.
