WHAT ARE YU DOING?
ROCKIES 11, CUBS 2 Darvish a disaster from the start as he fails to go 5 innings for 4th time
The Cubs were sloppy in the field and for the second time in as many hitter- friendly days at Wrigley Field longed for their glory days of swinging for launch angle.
But their exit velocity was impressive when it came to being out of this one quickly in losing 11- 2 to the Rockies on Wednesday.
“That game belongs in Lake Michigan with some cement shoes tied around it,” manager Joe Maddon said. “That was awful.”
While Maddon was quick to dismiss the game as one ugly loss in a vast sea of 162 games, what’s harder to dismiss is the continuing struggles of $ 126 million starter Yu Darvish, who failed to pitch five innings for the fourth time in six starts as a Cub.
This time he struggled from the start, walking the first batter of the game and giving up a two- run homer to the third. By the time he gave up two more home runs in the fifth inning, there was no mistaking the booing from the crowd with chants of “Yuuuuu.”
Darvish is barely a month into his six- year deal, and he might have another 185 or so starts to prove his long- term value as Jake Arrieta’s replacement in a playoff- caliber rotation.
But for now, it has been two good starts against the Brewers and fifth- inning exits against everyone else.
“Overall, it was a bad rhythm [ Wednesday],” Darvish said. “A lot of things didn’t go well.”
He didn’t have an answer for what caused the rhythm problem, acknowledged the change in the outbound wind direction compared to his last start and said he isn’t putting pressure on himself because the lineup has struggled to score runs the past week.
Maddon spent so much time tipping his cap to the Rockies’ hitters that he didn’t seem to have time to be concerned about the continuing struggles of the Cubs’ biggest acquisition of the winter. Concern? “Not really,” Maddon said. “Of course, you want to see him go deeper, but I see ‘ stuff.’ Execution wasn’t good today. The last game out, he was executing so well, and that was a six- inning outing.
“We’ve just got to keep working through it and getting everybody on the same page. He’s new here.”
Darvish is still getting used to strategist Mike Borzello’s finely detailed game plans for attacking hitters that should eventually be a strength for a pitcher with such an unusually high number of effective pitches.
Darvish alluded to an issue at times with pitch selection when talking with Japanese reporters after his session with Chicago media — in particular using two- seam fastballs when four- seamers might have worked better and the overall need to incorporate more off- speed stuff.
It doesn’t excuse the miserable results so far. Darvish put runners on base in every inning, including walks in each of the first three innings. He gave up three home runs and two doubles among his seven hits allowed.
He also had trouble covering first on a ball hit to first baseman Anthony Rizzo for one of the singles.
“Physically, he looks great,” Maddon said. “It’s the execution of the pitch that we have to firm up a bit. There’s no excuses. I’m just saying he looks good, but the conclusion hasn’t been as good.”
Five weeks into the season, Darvish still is seeking his first win, has a 6.00 ERA, is walking 4.8 batters per nine innings and has a 1.57 WHIP. He has recorded 12 fifth- inning outs and allowed 14 fifth- inning runs.
“Obviously, we just trust that the process as it goes for him will continue to get better,” Ben Zobrist said. “Everybody can struggle for a month. You just keep making adjustments. And he’ll get comfortable and find his groove. And we won’t be talking about it too much more.”