The Chicago Cubs ruled right-hander Yu Darvish out for the remainder of the season on Tuesday after an MRI exam revealed a stress reaction in his right elbow.
Darvish will be shut down for six weeks as a result of the ailment.
He removed himself from a minor league rehab start for Class-A South Bend on Sunday after pitching just one inning. He shook his arm as he left the field after wincing through six warm-up pitches prior to the second.
"During warm-ups the next inning, I felt something in there," Darvish said through an interpreter. "Last time (in June) I did feel the same thing, I continued to throw. This time I stopped."
Darvish had been scheduled to throw three innings in his recovery from right triceps tendinitis that sent him to the 10-day disabled list on May 23.
He had thrown a simulated game at Wrigley Field last week, after which team president Theo Epstein said he was showing "maybe his best spin of the year."
"It's been a long road back," said Epstein of Darvish, who had experienced a setback during the throwing session in June. "There is no point in rushing it. We probably have one chance, given where we are in the calendar, to get this right. That's the priority."
Darvish, who turned 32 last week, ends his first season with the Cubs at 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA in eight starts. He joined Chicago on a six-year, $126 million contract in February.
Darvish is 57-45 with a 3.49 ERA during his six-year major league career, during which he has pitched for the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers and Cubs.
