Putting a lid on the rampaging Phillies, who routed good pitchers in the previous two rounds and would overwhelm Astros ace Justin Verlander in Game 1 of the World Series, Darvish allowed a pair of runs in Games 1 and 5 of the NLCS while logging seven and six innings. At any rate, Darvish’s three-run night matched Clayton Kershaw, setting up a bullpen game the Padres won to even the series. When an arresting two-strike curveball to Max Muncy was wrongly not ruled strike three, Muncy turned the reprieve into a home run. His greater mistake may have been fooling the plate ump. If less dominant, the outing in Queens was a useful imitation of Kevin Brown’s Game 1 road victory in the Astrodome - opposite Hall of Fame Randy Johnson - that began the 1998 Padres’ sprint to the World Series.ĭarvish allowed the Dodgers three home runs in a Divisional Playoff game. He exited with one run allowed in seven innings. It was Darvish who launched the Padres’ most successful postseason in 24 years, outpitching Mets co-ace Max Scherzer. The Dodgers go to school on pitchers every year en route to winning the West race Darvish flunked them, recording a 2.52 ERA in four games. He beat the Mets twice in the regular season. Showing himself the true master of Digital Baseball, the brown-striped sensei outwitted the analytically marinated Dodgers and Mets. The “rising” heat enhanced slow curves, split-fingered changeups and sinkers. His heavy use of cutters and sliders didn’t stop him from showing a mid-90s fastball across the seven months. Serial dabbling can compromise accuracy and velocity Darvish mastered the vast array of pitches, compiling a career-best walk rate (1.7 per nine innings) and a WHIP (0.950) that even outdid Jones’ epic effort in 1976 (and every other Padres pitcher in a full season). Applying his analysis, he dabbed more colors than on a typical pitch palette. They skimmed the dirt as Harper swung over them, the last for strike three, freezing a 2-1 deficit that Padres hitters overcame before Harper’s two-run home run famously would eclipse two innings later.Įxplaining his big 2022, Darvish said he availed himself of video tools and deep-dive stats. 2 starter for San Diego behind Joe Musgrove as the Padres look to get back to the postseason.My favorite Darvish moment came in the 36-year-old right-hander’s final full inning, when he solved Bryce Harper.Ĭracking a hidden code, Darvish induced two flailing swings with his two slowest pitches of the NL Championship Series, curveballs clocked at 67.4 and 68.3 mph. Darvish was named an All-Star in 2021 and finished eighth in the 2022 NL Cy Young Award voting. He has pitched in 361 innings and has struck out 396 hitters. So far in two years with the Padres, Darvish has combined for a 24-19 record with a 3.61 ERA. He only played three seasons of it with the Cubs and was traded to the San Diego Padres thread of the 2021 season. Darvish signed a 6-year, $126 million deal with the Chicago Cubs in 2018. He was only a half-season rental and hit free agency following the season. In 2017, Darvish was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline for prospects. Darvish played for Texas for six seasons but missed 2015 due to Tommy John surgery. He was posted to the MLB, and the Rangers won the winning bid at a reported $51.7 million. He signed with the Texas Rangers in 2012 after playing for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters for seven years in the NPB league in Japan. His 3.10 ERA ranked second on the team, and he pitched 194.2 innings while striking out 197 batters.ĭarvish has been in the league since 2012. He led the team with a 16-8 record in 30 games started. Darvish was set to become a free agent following the 2023 season but will now be locked down until after the 2029 season when he will be 42 years old.ĭarvish is coming off a rebound season with San Diego. The San Diego Padres and starting pitcher Yu Darvish have agreed to a 6-year, $108 million contract extension, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
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