The Phillies opening series starts March 31st against the Texas Rangers. Today, that series got a little easier. The Rangers announced today that Yu Darvish has been scratched from his start on Opening Day. Darvish, the Rangers’ Ace, has been battling a stiff neck through out the spring.
Last season Darvish placed second in the American League Cy Young voting and led the majors with 277 strikeouts in 209.2 innings with a 2.83 ERA. With this latest injury to Rangers, the club could consider using the southpaw Martin Perez or the righty Colby Lewis.
Comparing the two:
Age ERA WHIP IP HR/9 SO/9
Martin Perez 23 6.23 1.46 13 1.4 5.5 (2013-rookie)
Colby Lewis 32 3.43 1.08 105 1.4 8.0 (2012-injuried last season with elbow and hip)
The Rangers are also without second baseman Jurickson Profar and catcher Geovany Soto, who are both out 10-12 weeks. Profar has a torn muscle in his shoulder and Soto has a cartilage injury in his knee that required surgery.
The Phillies will send Cliff Lee to the mount for Opening Day as the Phillies look to get off to a fast start to the season that they can ride into the heart of the summer.
Andrew Shipotofsky is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter @AShipotofsky
