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Does it get frustrating watching Yu Darvish pitch and know that he’s capable of blowing fastballs past guys in the upper 90s, but he doesn’t throw them as much as I want? Yeah. Am I going to tell a MLB starting pitcher how he should be pitching? No, no I’m not because he obviously knows what’s been working and what hasn’t.
Yu Darvish had a rough game and it was more frustrating for him because he was dominant for most of it. I mean, he struck out eight batters and walked none in 5.1 innings, but was lifted after giving up six earned runs (seven total) on four home runs. Three of those homers came on two-strike counts.
So, NBC Sports Chicago’s David Kaplan assembled his research team and figured out that in two-strike counts, Darvish mostly uses his off-speed pitches.
Wait, a pitcher mostly using off-speed pitches in strikeout situations? WHAT?!?!
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By the way, Wednesday night was incredibly fluky for Darvish. Yes, the home runs have been an issue all season for him, even during his recent dominant stretch beginning in July. However, giving up home runs or any offense with two strikes hasn’t been a problem for him. Before Wednesday night, Darvish had allowed five home runs on two-strike counts, yielding a .384 OPS.
I mean, Kyle Hendricks has given up eight home runs on two-strike counts. Does that mean he needs a pitching lesson from Kap too?
Anyway, Darvish saw he was tagged in the tweet and hey, he responded with some facts!
So, why does Darvish seem to rely on his off-speed pitches?
Will you look at that. Again, this is shutting me up too because I keep saying use your fastball more, but if the off-speed is what’s working, then why change it?
But Kap wasn’t done, of course he wasn’t.
That’s right! Kevin Pillar tied the game in the sixth, hitting a 0-2 pitch for a solo home run. He’s a right-handed hitter, so Kap isn’t buying Darvish’s response that was about how he approaches left-handed batters.
BUT WAIT! Yu has an answer for that too.
Sometimes you have to give credit to the other team. And yes, the Giants made a great adjustment against Darvish and were all over his off-speed pitches in the middle of the game. There was also some luck there, with Pillar being the first righty to hit Darvish’s splitter this year.
By the way, Pillar’s home run was the first by a right-handed batter against Darvish this season on a two-strike count.
Again, five home runs on two-strike counts before Wednesday night and then he gave up three to the Giants. Weird shit happens, but if David Kaplan keeps wanting to take Ls, then by all means, keep being the biggest meatball imaginable.
Oh and somehow Phil Rogers was even more obnoxious about Yu Darvish.
Yu Darvish has been pretty damn good since the All-Star break, but one bad start and you have two guys in the media jumping through hoops trying to say why he’s not effective.
