Darvish is slated to make his Padres debut in Sunday's Cactus League game against the Royals, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

EDGE Analysis

The Padres deliberately kept Darvish off their pitching schedule early in the Cactus League slate, with the reigning NL Cy Young runner-up limited to facing hitters in live batting practice and simulated games. Darvish still remains on track to handle a normal starter's workload by the start of the regular season, though manager Jayce Tingler has yet to say whether the 34-year-old would receiving the Opening Day nod April 1 versus the Diamondbacks. Coming off an abbreviated 2020 campaign with the Cubs in which he posted a 2.01 ERA and 0.96 WHIP to go with 93 strikeouts in 76 innings, Darvish looks like a safe top-10 pitching selection in fantasy drafts.