Yu Darvish Injury: Goes four innings in sim game

Darvish (elbow) threw a four-inning, 64-pitch simulated game Tuesday, MLB.com reports.

Darvish faced off against Single-A Lake Elsinore hitters in the sim game, his third since the middle of the June. The Padres have been cagey about offering up a target date for his return from the 60-day injured list, but Darvish's season debut appears to be imminent. Though pitchers who have missed as much time as Darvish has typically head out on rehab assignments before being activated, the Padres could deem his sim games as being sufficient enough as he prepares for a return from the IL. After optioning fifth starter Matt Waldron to Triple-A El Paso on Wednesday, the Padres currently have an opening in the rotation for Sunday against the Rangers, and it wouldn't be overly surprising if Darvish was being earmarked for that contest, assuming he's feeling well physically following Tuesday's sim game.