Darvish begins what Padres anticipate will be short rehab assignment

SAN DIEGO -- Yu Darvish is on his way back -- sooner rather than later, it seems.

Darvish began a rehab assignment with Triple-A El Paso on Wednesday night, pitching four innings at Las Vegas, while allowing two runs on two hits and striking out four. He threw 51 pitches -- just shy of the 60-65 pitch mark the Padres had envisioned for him.

It was Darvish’s first appearance in a game since he was sidelined by right elbow inflammation in mid-March during Spring Training. He’d thrown three simulated innings at the team’s Spring Training complex in Arizona last week.

It might not be long before Darvish is back in the Padres’ rotation.

“We’ll see how he goes through this one, how he recovers,” said manager Mike Shildt. “Then we’ll see what he wants to do, how he feels. But I don’t think Yu wants to spend a lot of time on rehab.”

It seems likely Darvish would make at least one more start -- or perhaps a simulated start -- before he rejoins the big league club. That would presumably come early next week, lining up his return for late May.

If so, that’s an opportune time for the Padres to be getting one of their most important arms back. Beginning May 30, they’re slated to play 26 games in 27 days -- including two series against the division rival Dodgers and one apiece against the Giants and Diamondbacks.

The Padres never envisioned 30 starts and 200 innings this season for the 38-year-old Darvish. He’s averaged 20 starts per year since signing his six-year contract extension before the 2023 season. When Darvish felt some minor soreness in his elbow in March, they figured the best course of action would be to ease him off.

For the most part, Darvish has called his own shots during his rehab (with obvious input from the team’s training staff). He will likely continue to do so. In essence, when Darvish says he’s ready, there’s a good chance that’s when he’ll be activated.

“I rely on that heavily,” Shildt said, invoking Darvish’s achievements across 19 professional seasons in Japan and MLB. “We trust our players. The more experience, maybe the more trust.

“For sure, a 38-year-old guy that’s won 200-plus games, 3,000-plus punchouts, knows what he needs. He gets to drive a lot of what we’re doing. So he’ll let us know. The stuff will let us know. Yu’s a very honest guy. He’ll be really clear about his ability to come back and be ready.”