[ad_1]
Yu Darvish looked bad early Saturday night. And I mean bad as if his game had fallen from the biggest ugly tree in the forest and hit every branch down. He either walked or hit five on the first two runs, mainly because he did not know where his fastball was heading at all. Darvish had to resort to throw the cursor almost exclusively, opting either for this, or for the cutter for nine of his last 10 shots in the 2nd round.
All the while, however, it was clear that the material was still there. The right-handed man touched in the mid-90s and getting good mobility on his land, he just could not find the area. This savagery was one of the things that limited the Diamondbacks to a single hit in the first five innings, but they were not in good contact even when Darvish shot a few shots.
At 56 shots through the first frames, and with the small sign that he would do anything, something clicked. This something could have been the offense, which placed five points on Zack Godley at the top of the 3rd inning. A small cushion has allowed Darvish to settle and play with more confidence, at least believes his manager.
"I think he's always been a favorite," Joe Maddon said after the match. "When you give him a lead like that, he's pretty good. And he did it. "
The last line will not reveal these initial difficulties, it will simply tell you that Darvish gave a point on two shots and that he eliminated eight men. The four walks seem even better when they are divided into six runs instead of two. But what you can not get with a boxed score is the context in which Darvish returned from his initial wilderness to win his second victory.
Even though I know it's left-handed to quote throwing wins as a legitimate measure of performance, it's really as if Darvish had won on a Saturday night. And that's what's so satisfying that a guy who was protected and retired early from previous starts was forced to overtake the first two races on Saturday.
Perhaps more importantly, Darvish was allowed to finish the 6th inning despite his start in the lead and the second batter to open the frame. In addition, the last throw of his free pass placed him at 98 highs. With a finish and a man without outs, Maddon would not have been blamed for having trained Darvish with what was then a 7-1 lead.
"We needed him to escape the situation," explained the skipper later.
So, instead of privileging the psyche of his starter, Maddon sent the pitching coach, Tommy Hottovy, to help settle Darvish, we have already seen when José Quintana and Cole Hamels had a hard time. Darvish pulled out the next hitter he faced, then got a pair of rises to end the heat and end his night. It only took him 54 yards to finish his last four innings of work, two fewer than he had needed to pass the first two.
So has Darvish gone a step? There is no way to find out without foresight, but he seems to have won the trust of his manager. More importantly, he may have increased his self-confidence. And if that's true, if Darvish is able to lock and run like this steadily … Well, I'll let you finish that sentence for yourself.
[ad_2]
Source link