Chicago Cubs: Big early takeaways one week into Cubs camp

Chicago Cubs: As he looks to build off 2019, Yu Darvish is dazzling his teammates early

Outfielder Ian Happ described on this podcast, The Compound, what it was like facing Yu Darvish during a scrimmage match last week. Instead of being fastball heavy early on, Happ said Darvish threw him sliders with wicked movement that he swung and “missed it probably by six feet.”

Darvish has been working not only the breaking stuff he normally throws but another new pitch of his own. He calls it “The Supreme,” which is a mix of a two-seam fastball and a splitter/forkball. So imagine the speed of a two-seamer and the movement of a splitter. He had been working on the pitch for some time this year as he continues to perfect it as he has thrown it during the scrimmages.

He has a double-digit number of pitches in his repertoire, and he is not afraid to fire them as much as possible early on. If he can locate these pitches, then hitters are going to have a heck of a time trying to hit them. The sky is the limit for Darvish in the upcoming season.

There will be much more news to come in the next two weeks before the season begins. The formation of the roster will soon take shape, and hopefully, there are no positive COVID cases or further injuries.