Chicago Cubs: Yu Darvish not holding back on criticizing Astros

While this mess of a saga continues with the Houston Astros cheating scandal, Chicago Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish speaks out against the handling of it.

Fans around baseball rolled their eyes in disgust when the Houston Astros attempted to apologize last week for their involvement in the cheating scandal. This included very robotic-sounding statements and owner Jim Crane saying how he should not be held accountable and their acts did not change anything. This was followed by Carlos Correa responding to criticism saying they won “fair and square” and how people, “don’t know the facts.”

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This will not go away, nor should it. One of those greatly affected by the 2017 World Series was Chicago Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish, who was faced them twice in that series as a Los Angeles Dodger.

That series took a toll on him, and while he was able to battle back in the second half of last season and seems to feel good now, he has not forgotten it.

Today while speaking to the media at Cubs camp, he had some very stern thoughts regarding the Astros.

“Like Olympics…when a player cheats you can’t have a Gold Medal, right? But they still have a World Series title — [RE Correa responding to criticism] They don’t have to talk…they shouldn’t talk.” – Yu Darvish speaking with ESPN’s Cubs beat Jesse Rogers

Darvish’s thoughts are similar to the likes of teammate Kris Bryant and former Dodgers Cody Bellinger regarding feelings towards the Astros and commissioner Rob Manfred’s lack of discipline. However coming from Darvish, these words feel stronger than most other players due to his involvement in the 2017 World Series.

Darvish not taking any trash from anyone on the matter

Of course it did not stop there with his interview. Darvish, a very active member on Social Media, has gotten a lot of support from fans for his statements. Unfortunately there have been some trolls out on Twitter trying to get him…but Darvish is not backing down. Try to rub an Astros World Series trophy in his face? He calls it a “trash can.”

What is really disturbing is people coming at Darvish on Twitter with photos of the racist gesture from Yuli Gurriel during that World Series. Darvish responded with quote-tweeting one of them with “yawn” emojis. That particular tweet has been deleted. It is really awful these Tweets are being sent to him, yet Darvish does not let people bully him.

It is good to hear Darvish speak out on this matter. Not backing down can help more players speak out against it like Bellinger, Bryant and others have. Manfred has no interest in further punishing the Astros, which has followers and players alike very upset. Their words might not directly discipline the Astros, but they will certainly send important messages.

We know at the end of the day, Darvish has moved past the 2017 World Series. He is not griping over it, but speaking out against it for the betterment of the sport in the future. People should listen to him.