NBC Sports Chicago is evaluating some of the most pressing Cubs questions entering spring training. Next up: Can Yu Darvish repeat his 2019 second half?
The 2019 season ended on a disappointing note for the Cubs but fans can take solace in Yu Darvish’s second half ascension offering a ton of hope for 2020 and beyond.
Darvish’s Cubs career got off to an inconspicuous start. The 33-year-old battled bouts of inconsistency in 2018 before going down with an arm injury, missing the season’s final four months. He made eight starts, posting career worsts in ERA (4.95), WHIP (1.43) and walk rate (11.7).
Darvish entered spring training last season healthy and refreshed, committed to returning to his dominant pre-Chicago form. Although he showed flashes in the first half, he struggled with his command (11.7 percent walk rate), which kept him from pitching deep into games. Darvish averaged less than six innings per start; in 18 outings, he sported a 5.01 ERA and 1.34 WHIP.
Darvish came out of the break determined to turn things around, asking manager Joe Maddon to start the Cubs’ first game. That July 12 outing was a major turning point in the right-hander’s season:
2019 Darvish post-All-Star break: 13 starts, 2.76 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 2.2 percent walk rate, 37.8 percent strikeout rate
That incredible run featured a 142-batter walk-less streak spanning seven starts (35 innings).
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A year ago, Darvish looked like a sunk cost with an albatross of a contract. But after Gerrit Cole (nine years, $324 million) and Stephen Strasburg (seven years, $245 million) landed lucrative contracts this winter, Darvish’s six-year, $126 million deal is beginning to look like a bargain.
Now, the big question is whether he can keep the good times rolling in 2020, year three of his deal.
A pessimistic thought is Darvish hasn’t put it all together across a full season on the North Side yet. That’s fair, but the optimistic view is he’s entering camp healthy for the second straight season. This time, he has a positive run to build off of and it’s clear he’s in a much better place mentally than in the past. One scroll through the guy’s Twitter feed will tell you that much.
Furthermore, Darvish’s performance in the 2017 World Series (two starts, 3 1/3 innings, 21.60 ERA) weighed heavily on his psyche. Although he doesn’t blame the Astros for those numbers, their cheating scandal surfacing this winter can help him move forward. Previously, Darvish thought he was tipping his pitches against Houston, though one can’t be so sure now.
"A couple of Astros players told me I was tipping pitches, but now it comes out they were stealing signs,” Darvish said at Cubs Convention. “Was I tipping, or were they stealing?"
Darvish has moved past the 2017 World Series and the tough start to his Cubs career. Last season showed he has a lot to offer over the next four years in Chicago. Replicating that second half effort throughout 2020 is the next step in his evolution on the North Side.
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