Yu Darvish seems to be worth every penny of that six-year, $60 million contract he signed with the Texas Rangers in the offseason. The 25-year-old Japanese pitcher is 4-0 with a 2.18 ERA and 33 strikeouts. Since a rocky MLB debut against the Mariners — a game Darvish still earned the victory despite allowing five runs — the righty has allowed just three runs in 271?3 innings. And during that four-game span, Darvish has defeated some of the best offensive clubs in the majors — the Tigers, Yankees and Blue Jays.
After his hot start, a lot of people are taking notice.
“It looks like he has some late life on his fastball, and he’s got a nice repertoire of pitches,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland told reporters after Darvish allowed just two hits and one run in 61?3 innings vs. Detroit.
Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira said, “We had a game plan to make him throw strikes, and he definitely did that. If you tried to be patient, you’re down 0-1, 0-2. If you tried to be aggressive, every pitch seemed like it started in the zone, then moved out of the zone.”
Darvish pitched 81?3 scoreless innings vs. New York.
And Blue Jays manager John Farrell said Darvish was “as good as advertised” after the Rangers ace allowed one run against Toronto on Monday.
But the challenge for Darvish will be keeping up this pace after the lineups get more acquainted with the Rangers’ 6-foot-5, 216-pounder.
Just imagine the praise if Darvish is able to continue to stymie some of the best offensive lineups in the game.
– Jeffrey Tomik
