Darvish declares himself ready to start for Rangers

Right-hander Yu Darvish said that he is ready to pitch again for the Texas Rangers, who are planning to activate him Saturday and start him against the Chicago Cubs.

Darvish, who experienced shoulder discomfort June 8 in his third start of the season and was placed on the 15-day disabled list, threw a bullpen session Wednesday but said that he first felt confident he was ready to concern in his final inning Sunday during his second rehab start.

Darvish’s fastball was clocked as high 98 mph as he threw 72 pitches for Double A Frisco. The Rangers expect him to be able to log 85-90 pitches at Wrigley Field.

“I’m ready to go,” Darvish said Thursday before a workout ahead of the start of the season half. “I felt pretty good during my last rehab outing, especially the fifth inning. I got the feeling of, ‘OK, I’m ready to go.’ That was good.”

Reliever Keone Kela will beat Darvish off the DL, assuming he doesn’t have an 11th-hour setback after playing catch during the workout. The Rangers will need to clear spots for him on the 25-man and 40-man rosters to get him off the 60-day DL.

The status of another righty, though, is uncertain. Kyle Lohse said that the oblique tightness that bothered him Saturday during his Rangers debut improved over the All-Star break to the point where he felt he could play catch Thursday.

He will need to be able to throw a bullpen session by Saturday to take his next turn in the rotation Tuesday and avoid going on the DL. If he does land on the DL, Chi Chi Gonzalez or Nick Martinez would be recalled from Triple A Round Rock.

“I didn’t have that fun of an All-Star break,” Lohse said. “I was doing two-a-day treatments to try to see how good we can get it. We’ll basically take it step by step and make sure I don’t do anything dumb and turn it into something that’s worse than it already is.

“After Saturday, I wasn’t very happy at all. It didn’t feel like it was something that going to be short, but it’s been making progress every day enough to where I told them I felt comfortable playing catch today. We’ll see how it goes from there.”

Odor, Rangers talk extension

A source confirmed that second baseman Rougned Odor recently rejected a long-term contract extension from the Rangers because it contained two club options years, but Odor is willing to sign the deal if it has only one option year.

Odor isn’t eligible for salary arbitration until 2018. The Rangers are seeking to buy out his first year of free agency and possibly as many as two more through club options.

A report by Today’s Knuckleball said that the Rangers offered a deal similar to the six-year, $35 million contract Pittsburgh gave outfielder Gregory Polanco earlier this season.

Desmond attends

All-Star center fielder Ian Desmond was offered the opportunity to not attend Thursday’s optional workout after attending All-Star festivities Monday and Tuesday and then taking a red-eye flight back to Texas early Wednesday.

Desmond, though, was at his locker when the media was allowed into the tiny visiting clubhouse at Wrigley Field. Third baseman Adrian Beltre, designated hitter Prince Fielder and left-handed All-Star Cole Hamels weren’t at the workout.

“They all earned the break,” manager Jeff Banister said. “He’s [Desmond] earned it because he’s an All-Star.”

Fielder and Mitch Moreland will play at least one game this weekend at first base, with the designated hitter not used under National League rules.

This story was originally published July 14, 2016 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Darvish declares himself ready to start for Rangers."