Yu Darvish made his 2025 season debut for the San Diego Padres on July 8 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, marking his 13th MLB season with at least one pitch thrown. This achievement sets a new record for the most MLB seasons pitched by a Japanese-born player and ranks second among Asian-born pitchers behind South Korea’s Chan Ho Park, who had 17 seasons. Darvish pitched 3.2 innings, allowing three hits, two earned runs, and issuing three walks while striking out five batters on 63 pitches. During his outing, he employed seven different types of breaking balls and faced some tough umpire decisions that led to four walks and hit batsmen. Despite giving up the lead, Darvish received a standing ovation from Padres fans at the home stadium. This was his first start since Game 5 of the previous year's National League Division Series. The Padres officially activated Darvish for the game, and his return was noted by multiple sources highlighting his effective pitching and use of varied pitches.