Yu Darvish has racked up more trips to the disabled list than wins in his first season on the North Side.
The Cubs’ $126 million man went on the 10-day DL on Saturday for the second time this season, this time with tendinitis in his right triceps. Darvish also was on the DL from May 7 to 15 with parainfluenza virus.
It was the latest setback for the Cubs’ biggest offseason acquisition, whose highlight reel this season includes five starts of less than five innings, a game-changing balk and three walks to opposing pitchers.
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Darvish is 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA in eight starts.
“He’s been bothered a little bit recently, but we thought we could work through it,” manager Joe Maddon said. “There’s some inflammation. We want to back off to make sure it’s all well.”
The Darvish news came just before the Cubs’ 5-4 loss to the Giants. Darvish, who was scheduled to pitch the series finale Sunday, will be eligible to return June 2 against the Mets at Citi Field.
Whether or not the injury will force him to miss more than one start remains unclear. Darvish wasn’t available to speak to reporters after the game. He will have an MRI exam in the coming days to assess the severity of the injury.
“Right now, we’re not overly concerned,” Maddon said. “We’re just going precautionary method right now to make sure everything is good, based on the fact that the guy’s had a history.”
Darvish missed the end of the 2014 season with elbow inflammation. In 2015, he made one spring-training appearance and left that game early with tightness in his triceps. An MRI scan later revealed partially torn ligaments in his right elbow, and he underwent Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss all of that season and part of 2016.
Tyler Chatwood will make the start in Darvish’s place Sunday.
The Cubs made a corresponding roster move, recalling left-hander Randy Rosario from Class AAA Iowa. Rosario, 24, threw two scoreless innings in his lone appearance with the Cubs on May 19 in Cincinnati. He posted a 0.47 ERA in 19⅓ innings of relief at Iowa.
Darvish’s injury is the latest blow to a starting rotation that has struggled to get into a rhythm. Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lester have been solid atop the rotation, but Darvish, Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood have been inconsistent.
Quintana, who threw seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in his last start against the Reds, cruised through the first three innings against the Giants and held the lead. But a two-run homer by Brandon Crawford tied the score in the fourth.
Quintana then gave up back-to-back doubles in the fifth to Gorkys Hernandez and Andrew McCutchen, both of whom scored to give the Giants a 4-3 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
Quintana made it through 4⅓ innings, allowing four runs, five hits and a walk. It was the third time in five starts that he didn’t make it through five innings.
Javy Baez said everyone else will have to pick up the slack while Darvish is out.
“We trust everybody that gets in the game,” said Baez, who crushed a solo home run in the fourth. “And we’ve got great defense playing behind whoever is pitching.”
Kyle Schwarber homered in the third inning for the Cubs, who went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
