Darvish remains on track to start Saturday against the Brewers, but the Cubs may be conservative with his workload, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports. "You never want to go out and push him to eight innings after skipping a start, not to say he couldn't do it," pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said Thursday. "Just be smart about where he's at and the workload."

EDGE Analysis

Darvish threw a 29-pitch bullpen session without any discomfort Thursday, clearing the way for his return after he was scratched last weekend with right forearm tightness. The Cubs are well aware that the innings are adding up for Darvish; he's already up more than 100 additional innings from 2018. "If there's an opportunity to get him out of there sooner in a situation, it would be great," Hottovy added. "To buy some extra innings down the stretch if we're going to need it."