Texas Rangers fans were delighted at Yu Darvish during his first major league season coming over from Japan. The much-hyped starter had immediately showed the kind of potential he had to be a dominant starting pitcher for the Rangers.
Major League Baseball analysts and fans seem to agree that judging by what the big right-hander did in his first season, the numbers he produced were just the tip of the iceberg. The Japanese ace is tipped for a long and great career in the big leagues if he plays it right and fulfills his apparent potential. Darvish went seven innings or more in six consecutive starts from August 17th to September 20th last season. During that span, he struck out eight or more batters in five of the six starts, including two 10-strikeout performances in back-to-back games. Those would seem pretty impressive numbers for a rookie.
Derek Jeter, Hall of Famer and top player for the New York Yankees was impressed with Darvish’s pitching when they faced him last season. “He has a lot of different pitches. We really didn’t know what to expect,” Jeter said. “He had the fastball, two-seamer, cutter, four-seamer, curveball, slider, change-up—he’s got pretty much everything.”
Two hundred twenty-one strikeouts as a rookie is an extremely positive showing. Darvish has shown that he is a power-pitcher and his extensive repertoire of pitches keeps hitters off-balance. The 6’5″ right-hander showed flashes of dominance, mixed with some struggles in 2012. He still has a some issues to improve on. If he can pitch that well despite his struggles, Texas Rangers fans will have a lot to look forward to as Darvish develops.
[ via Bleacher Report ]