USA TODAY International Edition
Darvish pitches ‘ at my best right now’
PEORIA, Ariz. – There he was standing on the mound, wearing the brownand- gold uniform in a spring training game for the first time, representing the Padres’ hopes and dreams.
San Diego loaded up all winter. The Padres grabbed front- line starters and locked up stars, trying to scare their neighbors up the I- 5 Freeway in Los Angeles.
Well, if the Padres are going to interrupt the Dodgers’ dynasty hopes, no one is more important than Yu Darvish, who showed in his first spring training start why San Diego acquired him from the Cubs in a salary dump.
Darvish dazzled in his debut Sunday, striking out four batters in two innings against the Royals. He threw seven different pitches and permitted just one baserunner, on a single. He certainly looked like the guy who dominated the National League Central Division last year, going 8- 3 with a 2.01 ERA and finishing second to Trevor Bauer, then with the Reds, in the Cy Young Award race.
Now, Darvish and Bauer are back in the same division again.
The Dodgers dropped $ 102 million on a three- year deal to bring Bauer to Los Angeles.
For Darvish, the Padres traded pitcher Zach Davies and four low- level prospects and picked up the remaining three years and $ 59 million on his contract.
The Padres believe that Darvish, 34, is just what they need to lead perhaps the most talented pitching staff in the league.
Darvish did not live up to his contract ( six years, $ 126 million) in the early years with Chicago, starting only eight games because of an injury in 2018 and then struggling in the first half of 2019.
But he started to pitch like the Cubs envisioned in the second half, posting a 4- 4 record, 2.76 ERA, 118 strikeouts and seven walks in 81 2⁄ innings.
3
Proving it was no fluke, he looked even better last year in the 60- game truncated season, striking out 93 batters with 14 walks in 76 innings. He pitched well in his postseason start, too, giving up two runs in 6 2⁄ innings
3 against the Marlins.
“Just looking back at my whole career, I think I’m at my best right now,” Darvish said Sunday.
Who would dare disagree?
“It’s as good a combination of power, finesse, multiple pitches as anybody in the game,” Padres general manager A. J. Preller said this spring. “His last season and a half has been as productive as anybody in the game. He’s a force.”
Undoubtedly, the Padres are counting on him to bring them their first World Series title in their 52- year history.
“I think this is one of the best teams in baseball right now,” Darvish said earlier this spring.
Darvish sees the talent surrounding him on the field. He watches the young talent with pitchers such as Dinelson Lamet, Adrian Morejon, Chris Paddack and MacKenzie Gore and gets a kick out of being the one to answer their questions.
“I’m not sure if this is the proper way to put it, but they’re cute, in a sense,” Darvish said. “I’ve been in the league long enough and I probably would be considered a veteran, but being around these young guys, I don’t actually feel like being a veteran or feeling too old.
“I’m not thinking so much about giving them advice. I’m more thinking about trying to give them an environment where they feel comfortable in. I think, someone like myself and maybe Blake Snell, us veterans should try to provide an environment that these young players feel comfortable in.”
The front office and coaching staff have made Darvish comfortable as well.
“They’ve been great,” Darvish said. “They’ve been really, really supportive. I feel like they’ve given me the freedom to get myself ready. I’m really appreciative of that.
“I didn’t feel like I was pitching for a new team. It felt just kind of normal actually wearing the uniform.”
Certainly, it will help to have Victor Caratini, his personal catcher, who was included in the trade. Caratini has caught him more than any other catcher in his career. In his past 25 starts, all caught by Caratini, Darvish is yielding a 2.40 ERA and a .204 opponent’s batting average with 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings.
Darvish has been experimenting on a new splitter, too, with the help of adviser Hideo Nomo, the former Dodgers AllStar pitcher.
“That’s the beautiful part of Darvish,” said Padres manager Jayce Tingler. “He can beat you with a lot of different ways. Some of it is planned. Some of it is feel.
“The more you see it, the appreciation, just how he continues to fine- tune his game what he can do with a baseball.”
Next up: What he can do for a franchise and a hungry fan base looking to topple the Dodgers, the reigning World Series champions.