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Chicago Cubs: Yu Darvish lacks fastball control in return to the mound
In his return to the mound, Chicago Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish battled through two-plus innings, showing a complete inability to command his heater.
Saturday night had all the makings of a promising tale for the Chicago Cubs. A familiar setting. Clear skies. Yu Darvish, coming off a strong spring showing, taking the ball healthy and ready to turn the page on an injury-plagued and tremendously disappointing first season on the North Side.
But, as they say, you cannot judge a book by its cover. The tale went quite differently on Saturday night in Arlington. After striking out the first two batters he faced, Darvish walked Elvis Andrus and Nomar Mazara, drawing a mound visit. After a walk to Joey Gallo, the right-hander struck out Asdrubal Cabrera on a running fastball to end the threat.
At that point, you hoped Darvish would settle in and find some semblance of rhythm. Any time it takes 40 or so pitches to close out a frame, you need to make quick work of things in the second. But, instead, the oddity continued – a game of walks and strikeouts.
“First couple guys I feel good,” Darvish told reporters after the game (via The Athletic – subscription required). “But after that I lost my command. Especially the fastball.”
Darvish walked the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the second before a baserunning blunder seemed to once again turn the tide in his favor. Delino DeShields pulled back a bunt attempt and Ronald Guzman, the runner at second, got caught in between second and third for the first out of the inning.
Chicago Cubs: Maddon forced to his pen early in the loss
After DeShields drew a walk, Darvish bounced back to strike out Shin-Soo Choo for the second out of the inning. But on a night when the Cubs hurler lacked any sort of consistency or control with his fastball, Rougned Odor sat on a breaking ball and ripped a single into right field, driving in the Rangers’ first tally of the night.
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Darvish worked out of the jam to end the second, but the third brought more of the same. He walked Mazara to open the inning, then retired Gallo on a fielder’s choice ground ball to the right side.
With a runner on and one away, Cabrera launched a fastball that caught too much of the plate deep into the right-field seats, pulling Texas within one at 4-3. After retiring one final batter, manager Joe Maddon made his slow walk to the mound, ending what was supposed to be a triumphant return to the mound for Yu Darvish.
That third inning is where things really went sideways for the Cubs’ $126 million man. His fastball velocity, on average, barely cracked 90 MPH. That really stands out given the fact Darvish was pumping heat in the mid-to-upper 90s all spring in Arizona. That, coupled with spotty control, was a recipe for disaster.
“The stuff from down there is really good, it’s just about where it’s going,” Maddon said. “Great stuff, velocity was good, breaking ball was good, everything was good. We just have to be in the strike zone a little more consistently. Because that kind of stuff is definitely going to play, post-fifth inning, sixth- or seventh-inning stuff. He just has to get in the zone. We’ll get him there.”
Chicago Cubs: Poor pitch usage, ineffectiveness proved costly
Now, there’s no way to look at what transpired on Saturday and feel good about it. A pig with lipstick is still a pig at the end of the day. This was an ugly outing – period. Sure, there were some borderline calls that didn’t go his way, but Darvish failed to execute when it counted and that’s the story to take away from his first start of 2019.
Nearly one-third of his pitches on Saturday were sliders, according to MLB.com. 62 of his 75 pitches on the night were either said slider or a diminished four-seamer. For a guy who’s got one of the most comprehensive arsenals in Major League Baseball, relying on two pitches 83 percent of the time isn’t going to cut it.
Next. Darvish could be Comeback Player of the Year. dark
Yu Darvish is going to have to learn to trust his stuff moving forward and, perhaps most importantly, shake off the bumps in the road you’re going to experience with every outing. If he can do that, hopefully, we can all look back at Saturday’s outing as just another hiccup on his road to redemption.