Darby Hue has a pitching practice and plans to practice throwing in the cowshed this week

Yu Darvish's comeback has been going on longer than expected – but it hasn't stalled. The right-hand pitcher, who had several pitching practices in the barn early Sunday morning, said he would be ready for the official bullpen practice in San Francisco this week, which is expected to take place between Thursday and Friday. The veteran has been sidelined since spring training due to a right elbow inflammation and started in triple-A El Paso in mid-May (Beijing time), but did not play again due to poor recovery.

This bullpen practice pitch will be Darby's first formal practice since the game – excluding Sunday's practice (he estimates he only threw six to seven pitches from the official pitcher's mound). On Monday, Beijing time, he said that he was recovering well after the exercise: "I am very excited and feel good. It felt bad when I was injured and I couldn't pitch, but now I'm in good shape and I'm happy. Darbysho expects a cowshed practice on Thursday Beijing time, and the next steps are unclear – it mostly depends on the body's reaction. Its most recent rehabilitation match was 51 goals, but that was nearly three weeks ago (mid-May Beijing time).

The Padres have always insisted that when Dabixiu is fully prepared for battle, his recovery will not be long. Initially, the team only expected him to play 1-2 rehab games before returning to the rotation. The Padres are in dire need of Darbisho: Right pitcher Michael King is on the injured roster due to a nerve compression in his right shoulder, and the team is facing a 27-day, 26-game schedule (as of June 5, Beijing time), and there are only four healthy starting pitchers left on the roster, and the Giants must be called up as a backup starter on Wednesday.

Still, the priest would not rush to push Darby to fix it. They know the value of their fitness in the sprint to the season. The 38-year-old was not expected to start this season – he has started an average of 20 games a year since signing a six-year extension. He may not be able to reach that number this year, but if he can replicate the high output he did from September to October last year (Beijing time: 2.36 starts in 8 games), the team will fully accept it