Rangers’ Yu Darvish sharp in 50-pitch rehab start at Triple A
Texas Rangers right-hander Yu Darvish threw hard and looked sharp for much of his 50-pitch rehab start for Triple A Round Rock on Friday night at Dell Diamond.
Darvish, in his second minor league rehab appearance after coming off Tommy John surgery, faced 12 batters in three innings. He allowed a run on two hits and a walk.
After retiring the first five batters, the New Orleans Zephyrs connected for consecutive hits, a single and a run-scoring double to the right-field corner by former Rangers minor leaguer Tomas Telis.
Darvish walked the No. 8 hitter before getting a groundout to third to end the second inning. He retired the side in the third on 18 pitches. He threw 30 strikes, 20 balls.
The velocity was up. I felt pretty good about my fastball today, so I was throwing it a lot. Toward the end I got a little bit tired because of that.
Rangers Yu Darivsh
“On the single, I got a ground ball, that’s what I wanted,” Darvish said. “[On the double], I made a good pitch, a cutter, 94 [mph],” he said. “I think it was a good pitch, but he hit it, so I have to tip my hat to him.”
Darvish struck out the first two batters and forced a weak groundout to second in a 13-pitch first inning. Three of the pitches were sliders, the rest fastballs.
He threw 41 fastballs and nine off-speed pitches. Most of the off-speed pitches were sliders in the low- to mid-80s but he did follow a 97 mph fastball with a 62 mph curve ball in the second inning.
The fourth-largest crowd in Dell Diamond history (13,194) was on hand for Darvish’s first appearance with Round Rock. Darvish made his first rehab start Sunday for Double A Frisco. He threw 32 pitches in two innings.
“I think I was throwing better than the last time,” Darvish said Friday. “The velocity was up. I felt pretty good about my fastball today, so I was throwing it a lot. Toward the end I got a little bit tired because of that.”
He threw 19 pitches in the second inning, including three off-speed pitches.
Darvish will most likely make his third rehab start back in Round Rock on Wednesday. He’s supposed to throw four innings or 60 pitches and then move up to five innings and 75 pitches in his fourth rehab start.
Although he felt significant progress, Darvish remains committed to the plan set for him.
“I think it’s going to probably be two to three weeks [before I return],” he said. “I’m going to go with what the team gave me as a plan.”
Stefan Stevenson: 817-390-7760, @StevensonFWST
This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 9:25 PM with the headline "Rangers’ Yu Darvish sharp in 50-pitch rehab start at Triple A."