Yu Darvish to have season-ending Tommy John surgery

Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish just became the latest victim of baseball's Tommy John epidemic. The club announced Friday that Darvish will undergo season-ending surgery next Tuesday. The surgery will be performed by Dr. James Andrews.

The 28-year-old Darvish was limited to just 22 starts last season due to elbow pain. He was shut down in August, and did not return. Darvish opted to rehab the injury during the offseason, but left his first spring start after just one inning with right triceps tightness.

The club sent Darvish for an MRI the following day, which revealed a sprain of Darvish's Ulnar Collateral Ligament in his right elbow. A second opinion confirmed that diagnosis, which led general manager Jon Daniels to announce that Darvish would likely need Tommy John surgery. Before making the official announcement, the club wanted to receive a third opinion from Dr. Andrews.

Following the procedure, Darvish will return to the team's spring training facilities in order to begin his rehab. He will continue his rehab in Arlington at the start of the regular season. Darvish remained positive despite the news, telling Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, "I will learn. I will get better." Recovery from the surgery typically takes about 12 months, so there's a chance Darvish would be ready by opening day next season as long as he doesn't experience any setbacks.

The news puts the Rangers in a difficult spot this season. After losing an astounding 2,116 games to the disabled list in 2014, the Rangers will now be without their best player for all of 2015. Though the club acquired Yovani Gallardo during the offseason, his production cannot match what Darvish brought to the table.

Darvish's absence also puts more pressure on the back-end of the team's rotation, which features the unproven Ross Detwiler and Nick Tepesch. Both players combined to throw less than 200 innings last season, and it's unclear what kind of workload they can handle in 2015.

It doesn't look like things are going to get much easier for a team that experienced a number of hardships in 2014. Darvish's injury is not just a big blow to the Rangers' chances, but a major disappointment for any fan who has watched him dominate over the past couple seasons.

Pitcher injuries are the worst.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik