Yu Darvish Doesn’t Want to Pee on Blister, Opting for Cream and Laser Instead

Somewhere, Moises Alou is shaking his head in disappointment.

Yu Darvish left Tuesday’s game two outs into the 5th inning after throwing a slider and feeling something wrong with his right ring finger. He’d been a little off all afternoon, giving up five hits to a Mariners B-squad, but this was different.

As is often the case in the dry desert air, particularly with pitchers who throw a lot of breaking stuff, Darvish had developed a blister. And while that’s always something to be careful with, any team is going to exercise additional caution at this early juncture.

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The plan at this point is for Darvish to use cream and laser therapy, then play catch and maybe throw a bullpen session Thursday depending on how it feels. His teammates suggested a more homespun remedy, but the righty is opting to follow the advice of the training staff instead.

“Lot of guys told me…I’m not sure I can say it here, ‘Just pee on it,'” Darvish told Sahadev Sharma. “Well I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or what.

“I’m not going to do that. I don’t want to.”

Too bad, I’m sure Sloan — the official water efficiency partner of the Chicago Cubs — would have been willing to kick in a little scratch had Darvish been willing to take a cue from Alou. But I guess when you’re in trouble, urine isn’t necessarily an ideal solution. So cream and laser treatment it is.

All things considered, this is not terrible news for Darvish or the Cubs. You’d obviously prefer that nothing was wrong, and blisters can be chronic if not treated properly, but this is much better than something with a joint. Jake Arrieta actually dealt with blister issues during spring training in 2016 and he ended up making 31 starts that season.

“I threw slider, the skin came off,” Darvish told reporters after the game. “Right after I threw, I feel pain, but now I don’t feel any. So it’s good [to go] next outing.”

Sounds positive, so we’re just in wait-and-see mode right now, with updates expected over the next two days. Darvish being able to throw that Thursday bullpen session would be an excellent sign.