Phoenix: Texas Rangers star pitcher Yu Darvish might need season-ending surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right elbow, the Major League Baseball club said on Saturday.

The 28-year-old Japanese right-hander underwent an MRI exam on Friday that disclosed the extent of damage to the ulnar collateral ligament, an injury unveiled after Darvish went only one inning on Thursday in his pre-season debut due to tightness in his right triceps.

Darvish has talked over options with Rangers team orthopedist Keith Meister, but he plans to seek second opinions from other surgeons before making a decision on how to proceed.

“I will be disappointed if I have to miss the season, but I want to look at all options, including getting a second opinion, before I make a final decision,” Darvish said in a statement. “In the meantime, my heart is with my teammates and our focus remains on accomplishing our goals for the season.”

Darvish, who missed the last seven weeks of the 2014 campaign with inflammation in his right elbow, went 10-7 with a 3.06 earned-run average over 22 starts last year. He has a 39-25 record and a 3.27 earned-run average in 83 starts over three seasons with the Rangers.

With Darvish having rested and rehabilitated his arm over the off-season, only to be hurt at the start of his season’s work, he might be faced with “Tommy John” surgery, the ligament replacement solution named for the first pitcher to undergo the procedure.

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said Darvish would have to avoid throwing for six weeks and would need four months before he could pitch in a game even if he chose not to have surgery, but Daniels said he was concerned that might only be “delaying the inevitable.”

If Darvish had the surgery soon, he could be ready for the start of the 2016 campaign, Daniels said.

“That’s where we are as far as the process and making that call, which is ultimately Yu’s to make,” Daniels said in a posting on the team website.

“First things first. You hurt for the guy. He has worked so hard to come back.”

Rangers manager Jeff Banister told Darvish that he and his teammates would be there to support him whatever happens.

“I sat down with Yu, shook his hand, listened to him and told him, however this goes, whatever direction this goes, he has a group of teammates who care about him and are ready to open their arms and wrap their arms around him and take care of him,” Banister said.