Texas Rangers’ Yu Darvish to undergo Tommy John surgery

Texas Rangers ace Yu Darvish missed the end of last season with elbow inflammation, and now he’ll miss all of this season, deciding to undergo Tommy John surgery next week.

Darvish made his first appearance of spring training last week, throwing 12 pitches in one inning before leaving the game with tightness in his triceps. An MRI scan later revealed that he had partially torn ligaments in his right elbow.

The decision to have the season-ending surgery was delayed as the Rangers sought second and third opinions on the injury.

“Where it’s cut-and-dry, if the ligament is totally severed, that’s kind of the easy one,” Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels said Wednesday according to MLB.com. “When you’ve got a damaged ligament, that’s where you lean on the experts, and we’ve spoken to several, two of the best in the world. I feel very confident in their recommendations.”

Darvish was 10-7 last year with an earned-run average of 3.06 over 133 innings and with two complete games. In three all-star MLB seasons, Darvish has a 3.27 ERA while averaging 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings with an overall record of 39-25 in 83 career starts.

Darvish played professional in Japan for seven seasons before the Rangers paid a $51-million posting bid in 2012 to acquire rights to the 28-year-old and they subsequently negotiated a six-year, $56-million contract.

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