Yu Darvish scratched from Opening day

Surprise, Ariz – The Texas Rangers have announced the

will not be the Opening day pitcher. It has been long anticipated that he would be taking the mound against

and the Philadelphia Phillies, but recent neck issues have sidelined him. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Surprise, Ariz – The Texas Rangers have announced the Yu Darvish will not be the Opening day pitcher.  It has been long anticipated that he would be taking the mound against Cliff Lee and the Philadelphia Phillies, but recent neck issues have sidelined him.

Darvish has had a stiff next for the last several days and at first thought it was simply from sleeping wrong, but since it has continued, it appears to possibly be something more.  He’ll be leaving camp to head to Dallas, Texas to see Dr. Drew Dossett, the same back/neck specialist that Tony Romo saw for his back operation.  He is scheduled to have an MRI on Wednesday.

With this set back and combined with the lack of pitching, it seems likely he’ll miss more than one start.  The Rangers could place him on the disabled list and backdate it to March 21st and only miss 6 days of the season, meaning he’ll miss about 1-2 starts.

After missing continued workouts and not feeling 100% during throwing sessions, Darvish and the Rangers decided it was time to figure out what the exact issue is rather than playing through it.  Darvish commented on missing Opening day.

"“I knew I wasn’t going to be ready for opening day so I made this decision,” Darvish said through an interpreter. “I didn’t want to burden the team so I made the decision now.” (Dallas News- Evan Grant)"

Starting rotation: Ron Washington announced this past Saturday that Tanner Scheppers would be part of the starting rotation.  If there is something wrong with Darvish and he’s out for an extended amount of time, then the Rangers will have to continue to pick apart their bullpen to fill out the rotation.  Currently the starting rotation consists of Yu Darvish, Martin Perez and Scheppers.  Colby Lewis, Tommy Hanson, Joe Saunders and Robbie Ross are fighting for the 2 final spots.

Right now the Rangers or Darvish are not making it sound serious.  Hopefully the extra time and rest will be all he needs to get back on the mound shortly after the season starts.