Rangers GM: 'We're looking at May' for Darvish return

The Texas Rangers are on the hunt for starting pitching going into next season, but the return of a pitcher already on their roster could set them apart in the American League.

Right-hander Yu Darvish is expected to make his return to the Rangers from Tommy John surgery in 2016, and general manager Jon Daniels envisions the 29-year-old pitching most of the season.

"I think we're looking at May," Daniels told T.R Sulllivan of MLB.com. "We kind of circled May on the calendar. That's the best estimate we can give. It could be a little before or a little bit after."

Darvish underwent Tommy John surgery on March 17 of this year, so if his rehab goes well the timeline from Daniels would make sense; recovery from the surgery is typically 12-16 months.

"As far as his rehab, he's had no setbacks to this point," manager Jeff Banister said. "Yu has looked very good, he looks strong, the body looks extremely healthy. This is a special guy. It's not to say that other guys are not. They are.

"But we want to make sure that this guy is as healthy as he can be, go through the complete process, because we want this guy around for as long as we can have him."

Before the surgery, Darvish pitched to a 3.27 ERA and 1.20 WHIP across 83 starts in three seasons with Texas, and was the AL's strikeouts leader in 2013.