Dallas Keuchel plans to throw his first bullpen session of the offseason on Thursday at Minute Maid Park.

Keuchel hasn't pitched off a mound since late August, when he made the final start of his injury-shortened season.

"It's going to feel a little bit better than what it usually does just based on the amount of time I've missed," he said. "I'm looking forward to hopefully playing until November this year, and I'm just going to take every day as it is."

Keuchel missed the final five weeks of the 2016 season because of a shoulder injury.

Yu Darvish marked his five-year anniversary as a Ranger this week. Now healthy again, he wants to prove how good of a pitcher he is.

"It's not much about my contract, but coming back from Tommy John surgery," Darvish said through his interpreter at the Rangers' winter banquet Friday night. "This will be my second year to see how my body reacts and how much I can do to prove how good of a pitcher I am. That's what I'm looking forward to."

Darvish is entering the sixth and final year of the contract he signed with the Rangers in January 2012 after seven seasons in Japan.

Josh Johnson is retiring from baseball at age 32, according to his agent, Matt Sosnick.

Johnson, who underwent three Tommy John surgeries on his right elbow during his career, signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants in early November.

The right-hander posted a career 58-45 record with a 3.40 ERA for the Miami Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays.

NL Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer revealed Monday that he pitched at the end of last season with an injured finger on his throwing hand and now will skip the World Baseball Classic.

The Nationals initially announced Monday on Twitter that their right-hander has a stress fracture in the knuckle of his right ring finger, without offering any details of the problem.