Darvish undergoes elbow surgery, will be ready for 2019
After getting a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, Chicago Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish underwent arthroscopic debridement surgery on his elbow, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Chicago expects Darvish to be 100 percent by spring training next year, Wittenmyer adds.
The surgery, which took place Wednesday in Texas, is to remove thickened, infected, or dead tissue in the area, the Chicago Sun-Times' Satchel Price notes.
After a lengthy stay on the disabled list involving multiple attempts at rehabilitation due to misdiagnosis, Darvish was diagnosed in late August with a stress reaction in his throwing elbow. The 32-year-old was then tabbed to miss the remainder of the season.
After signing a six-year, $126-million contract to join Chicago this past offseason, Darvish was held to eight starts, authoring an uncharacteristically high 4.95 ERA and 4.86 FIP over 40 innings.
Darvish recently posted on his personal blog that the injury and subsequent misdiagnosis as triceps tightness affected him emotionally and that he wished he pushed sooner for an MRI.
Since coming over from Japan prior to 2012, Darvish owns a 3.49 ERA and 3.38 FIP over 872 1/3 total frames. He missed the entire 2015 campaign due to Tommy John surgery.
The Cubs open their spring training schedule at their Cactus League facility in Mesa, Ariz. against the Milwaukee Brewers on Feb. 23.