I was not shy about my excitement for Yu Darvish in 2018, I backed the man when he was injured and it seemed the world was against him too. In 2019, I’m doubling down on Darvish.
I have seen what’s Darvish is capable of over the course of his career. I’ve seen the 11 K/9 rate (MLB best). I’ve seen the filthy stuff he has. In a rotation that doesn’t have a lot of swing-and-miss talent, Darvish presents the best baseball has ever seen.
There is always a possibility of injury. There’s that possibility for any single player in baseball. I also get it, the most important ability a player can have is availability. That hasn’t been Darvish’s strong suit throughout his career. After all, he’s only had a single season where he didn’t miss any time due to injury.
But my excitement for Darvish isn’t in hopes of him finally being healthy. It isn’t because the strikeout ability he has. It is because he can very likely determine if this is a World Series team or not.
I know there were tons of people hyping the St Louis Cardinals for the addition of Paul Goldschmidt and Andrew Miller. The Cincinnati Reds gained talent with the Yasiel Puig trade. The Milwaukee Brewers, who beat the Cubs in 2018 in game 163 for the NL Central crown, added Yasmani Grandal.
The Cubs added Daniel Descalso…
The Cubs also added several pitchers, guys that will add value to the bullpen. But really this is the same squad as the 2018 team. Well, except there is a healthy Kris Bryant and (fingers-crossed) a Darvish that will pitch 30 times for the Cubs this season.
All too often I’ve heard fans talk about how the Cards and Brewers have passed them. Those same folks tend to talk about Darvish and Bryant like their careers are past-tense. They are very much relevant players in 2019.
Bryant showed a little bit of it in the opener, and Darvish has been electric all spring.
Im going to call it, as ridiculous as it might sound. If Darvish is the guy that the Cubs have that contract to, and he performs for at least 30 regular season games, the Cubs will win the Central. The Cubs will make a deep playoff run. The Cubs will be a World Series team again.
And it all starts against his first MLB team.
