Rangers' Darvish will pitch Tuesday against Tampa Bay
The Texas Rangers breathe a giant sigh of relief.
Right-hander Yu Darvish is apparently OK.
Darvish pronounced himself fit to pitch Sunday, three days after his scheduled start was scratched due to quadriceps soreness. Darvish is now scheduled to pitch Tuesday against Tampa Bay.
"Everything felt very good," Darvish said through an interpreter after a Sunday workout. "I was able to do the same things (as usual) without any effects."
Darvish will officially be pitching on 10 days' rest, but he said he has thrown regularly over the course of the week.
It will be the fourth time this season he has pitched on six or more days of rest. He twice has pitched excellently, going at least seven innings with two runs. In his first start after the All-Star break, pitching on 12 days of rest, he was torched by Oakland for seven runs in 6 1/3 innings.
Said Darvish: "If I had to make that start, I think I was physically able to do so. I think we'll know at the end of the year how it plays out if this was the right choice, but I think so. ... I know I skipped that start, but how many days did I throw? Seven or maybe eight. In Japan, I would throw that many times (between starts). I don't look at it like I skipped a whole start and got more than needed time off. I look at it like a regular start with long rest."
After some midseason troubles, the Rangers urged Darvish to do what felt most comfortable and he reverted more to the pitching style he had in Japan. It has led to consecutive quality starts against Detroit and Toronto.
