Padres’ Darvish (elbow) shut down for rest of year
-
Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES — Yu Darvish‘s faint hopes of returning to a major league mound this year officially came to an end on Tuesday, when a stress reaction on the tip of his right elbow prompted him to shut down his throwing program for what remains of the San Diego Padres‘ thoroughly disappointing campaign.
Darvish, who hasn’t pitched since Aug. 25, continued to experience irritation while playing catch from about 90 feet recently and decided to stop throwing in hopes of avoiding a stress fracture.
“Some players go out there and throw with a stress reaction,” Darvish said through his interpreter. “I tried to throw, and it just didn’t go the way that we wanted.”
Darvish initially landed on the injured list with what was described as elbow inflammation. A follow-up MRI revealed that a bone spur — and not the ulnar collateral ligament — might have been the cause, a relief for someone who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015. Offseason surgery to either shave down his bone spur or remove it entirely has been considered, but Darvish, who had a cortisone shot in late August, will first give his elbow six weeks of rest in hopes that it will heal on its own.
A stress reaction ended Darvish’s 2018 season with the Chicago Cubs prematurely, but he came back to make 31 starts the following year.
“Once he feels good and he’s able to start throwing again, we’ll evaluate that,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said when asked if Darvish’s most recent elbow injury could impact his availability in 2024. “But it’s not going to be in the next couple of weeks here during the season.”
The Padres finished July with the lowest starting pitchers ERA in the major leagues. But Joe Musgrove — still throwing in hopes of returning before season’s end — then went on the IL with shoulder inflammation, and Darvish went on the shelf shortly thereafter, finally succumbing to elbow discomfort that had plagued him throughout the summer.
Darvish signed a six-year, $108 million extension in February, taking him through his age-41 season, and struggled through an 8-10 record and a 4.56 ERA in 24 starts in 2023. His last three outings saw him allow 13 runs in a stretch of 16 innings.
“August was very frustrating,” said Darvish, his Padres now 10 games below .500 at 68-78 and eight games out of a playoff spot after Tuesday night’s 11-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. “Pitching is my job; that’s how I get paid. To not be able to do that, to not be able to get on the mound and pitch, there is a lot of frustration.”
-
Kristen Shilton
The Vancouver Canucks have come to terms with forward Brock Boeser on a new seven-year contract, carrying a $7.25 million AAV.
Canucks GM Patrik Allvin announced the deal on Tuesday during the first hour of NHL free agency. Boeser, 28, was an unrestricted free agent on a previously expiring contract.
Drafted by Vancouver 23rd overall in the 2015 NHL draft, Boeser has collected 204 goals and 434 points in 554 games with the Canucks to date. A top-six scoring threat, Boeser has elite playmaking skills and the potential to produce big numbers offensively. He had his best year offensively in 2023-24, producing 40 goals and 73 points in 81 games.
Boeser didn’t hit those marks again last season — settling for 25 goals and 50 points in 75 games — but was still second amongst teammates in output. He also plays a prominent role on Vancouver’s power play and when he can generate opportunities at 5-on-5, he is a true difference-maker up front for the Canucks.
The extension is a happy ending for Vancouver and Boeser. When the regular season ended, Boeser admitted “it’s tough to say” whether he’d be back with the Canucks. Boeser reportedly turned down a previous five-year extension offer with the club and Allvin subsequently looked into deals for him at the March trade deadline, with no takers. Boeser looked — and sounded — poised to explore his options on the open market.
Ultimately, Boeser decided to stay put by committing the best years of his career to the Canucks.
-
Ryan S. Clark
Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary signed a seven-year extension through the 2032-33 season that is worth $6 million annually, the team announced Tuesday.
Fehervary, who had one year of team control remaining, will enter the final season of a three-year bridge deal that will see him make $2.675 million before his new contract begins at the start of the 2026-27 season.
He finished the season with five goals and a career-high 25 points while logging 19 minutes. Fehervary also played a crucial role in the Capitals’ penalty kill by finishing with 245 short-handed minutes for a penalty kill that was fifth in the NHL with an 82% success rate.
Securing the 25-year-old Fehervary to a long-term deal means the Capitals now have seven players who have more than three years remaining on their current contracts.
It also means the Capitals front office has one less decision to make ahead of what is expected to be an active offseason in 2026 that will see the club have what PuckPedia projects to be $39.25 million in cap space.
That’s also the same offseason in which captain and NHL all-time leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin‘s contract will come off their books along with that of defenseman John Carlson.
But until then, the Capitals have their entire top-six defensive unit under contract as they seek to improve upon a 2024-25 season that saw them finish atop the Metropolitan Division with 111 points before they lost in the Eastern Conference semifinal to the Carolina Hurricanes in five games.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike