Texas’ ace Yu Darvish is placed on the 15-day DL

It’s just one blow after another for the Texas Rangers who have had by far the most injured players hitting the disabled list this season, many for the 60-day disabled list meaning that they won’t be returning until next season. The Rangers can only hope that their ace Yu Darvish doesn’t suffer the same fate.

Wednesday the Rangers place Darvish on the 15-day disabled list with elbow soreness which is probably the worst sign of injury for a pitcher. Darvish was examined by the Ranger’s medical staff who according to Rangers’ general manager Jon Daniels reported that there doesn’t seem to be any structural damage. The Rangers, however, won’t know for sure until Darvish undergoes an MRI Thursday.

According to MLB.com’s Calvin Watkins, Darvish began to feel the tightness in his elbow on Monday while playing catch. Right now Darvish is only on the 15-day disabled list and is only expected to miss two starts. However, if the MRI reveals structural damage to his ulnar collateral ligament then things could be come much more serious for Darvish and for the already injury ravaged Rangers.

Darvish has been the lone bright spot in a terrible season for the Rangers. When he pitched they knew they had a chance to win. One of the best pitchers in the league, even on a last place team, Darvish has gone 10-7 with a 3.06 ERA.

Darvish will be the seventh pitcher currently on the disabled list for Texas. They have a total of 14 players on the disabled list at this team and have put a Major league leading 24 players on the disabled list already this season. Jon Daniels said,

"“With the year we’ve had with injuries, we’re not going to push anything and chance it at this point.”"

He’s right. If they are lucky enough to have Darvish’s MRI comeback showing only inflammation, they will need to treat him gently. If Darvish were to have the dreaded Tommy John surgery it would mean that the Rangers would lose him for a large part of the 2015 season.

Stay turned as I will update this post as the MRI results are released.