Texas Rangers: Yu Darvish scheduled to start on Sunday

Rangers ace Yu Darvish will start his first game of 2014 on Sunday. (Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports)

Yesterday it was announced that Yu Darvish, on the disabled list with neck stiffness, will start this Sunday for the Texas Rangers. This is according to a report from Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, as well as other reports from Rangers writers. The opponent for the game will be the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays have scheduled Alex Cobb as the opposing pitcher.

On March 30, Darvish was placed on the disabled list retroactive to March 21. The last time Darvish pitched in a game was on March 16, but he threw a bullpen session on Tuesday which consisted of 86 pitches. The overall results were apparently to the Rangers liking as Darvish reportedly showed no ill effects. They sure pleased Ron Washington (via T.R. Sullivan on MLB.com).

"“He’s still as strong as an ox,” Washington said. “He’s still dotting up gnats flying around home plate and you know how small a gnat is. He was knocking them down with consistency.”"

Last evening, Ben Dieter from Nolan Writin’ made this observation:

"It will be interesting to see if this will be Nick Martinez’ only start in a Texas Rangers uniform this season or if he will get more."

Would anyone be surprised if it was the only start Nick Martinez will take? Well, at least for now, it shouldn’t be a surprise. You do have to consider how Darvish will feel after his start.