Darvish Placed on DL with Parainfluenza

The Cubs have placed Yu Darvish, who was scheduled to start Tuesday’s game, on the 10-day DL with an ERA-related illness. Okay, it’s actually a case of parainfluenza that sapped Darvish’s strength and to the extent that he couldn’t take the hill. The move is retroactive to last Friday, which would allow the big righty to come back for the makeup game against the Braves on May 14 in Chicago.

Shout out to the dude on Facebook who called for the Cubs to send Darvish to the DL with a fake injury, he may have gotten this one right. See below for what the CDC’s website says about parainfluenza, which you may already be familiar with if you heard Zach Zaidman’s report during the 2nd inning on 670 The Score:

Human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs) commonly cause respiratory illnesses in infants and young children. But anyone can get HPIV illness. Symptoms may include fever, runny nose, and cough. Patients usually recover on their own. However, HPIVs can also cause more severe illness, such as croup or pneumonia.

Far be it for me to suggest this is one of those made-up smokescreens to give a guy a mental break, but it doesn’t really sound like much of a DL-worthy ailment. Then again, there’s no reason to take chances at this early juncture of the season, particularly with a guy who’s been struggling a little bit. The last thing you want is to have a weakened pitcher out there to either get shelled or exacerbate the issue.

“It’s not like he’s feeling anything physical,” Theo Epstein told reporters before the game. “It’s just getting him to a comfort zone and letting him play.”

Maybe that means giving Darvish a mental break, maybe it’s about keeping him from pushing too hard when he’s under the weather. Or maybe it’s a little bit of both.

The Cubs will not announce a corresponding move until Tuesday, but Jen-Ho Tseng was scratched from his start on the road with the Iowa Cubs and is expected to be called up to take a turn in the rotation.