Well, this kinda came out of nowhere. Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Yu Darvish, who missed most of the season with triceps inflammation and a stress reaction (bone-related) in his elbow, actually wound up having elbow surgery.
Today:
Yu Darvish got a second opinion and underwent an arthroscopic debridement today. He's expected to be ready to go for spring training in 2019.
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) September 12, 2018
After getting 2nd opinion from Dr. Andrews, Yu Darvish underwent arthroscopic debridement (routine cleanup) today by his doctor in Dallas. #Cubs expect him to be completely healthy & ready to pitch for spring training 2019
— Kelly Crull (@Kelly_Crull) September 12, 2018
Generally speaking, debridement is when you go in and remove a little tissue or bone or loose bodies that are causing issues (typically inflammation and/or discomfort). We didn’t quite know Darvish had that going on in there, but perhaps that was related to his significant pain and the stress reaction in his elbow.
We’ll have more on this if/when we get some more details, but the main thing to know is that usually, this kind of arthroscopic surgery at this point in the year is not an issue for Spring Training.