Phillies Opposition Roadblock: Texas Rangers
The Pitcher: Yu Darvish
The Rangers are not holding back on Yu Darvish after last year’s back-and-forth stints on the DL. Tonight will be his ninth start of the 2017 season. Last season, Darvish made only 17 starts total. And with Cole Hamels on the shelf, the Rangers will need Darvish to continue being their workhorse.
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This season, the 30-year-old has been very effective. In 51.2 innings, he has only allowed 17 earned runs. He has walked 21 hitters and struck out 52 along the way. His shortest outing so far has been 5.1 innings against Oakland during which he allowed four earned runs on three hits and two walks. Darvish has not allowed more than three earned in six of his eight starts in 2017.
Darvish has never faced the Phils, but there are players on the current roster that have previously hit against the righty. Howie Kendrick, Daniel Nava, and Michael Saunders have 37 at-bats against Darvish and only four hits, all from Saunders. So the question that begs answer is what makes Yu Darvish so effective?
For starters, any pitcher that can unleash seven pitches in any count ‘s hard to face. As a hitter, knowing that the opposing pitcher can throw any pitch 1-4 is tough enough. Now add three more pitches to that repertoire, and that gives you Mr. Darvish.
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His fastball and slider are the two pitches he will use the most. Last year those two pitches logged him 102 strikeouts, each one finishing off opposing hitters an equal 51 times.
This season, he is pitching to more contact early in counts so that an aggressive approach would be in the Phillies’ best interests.
With hitters stroking his fastball at a .293 average early on this season, it may prove valuable to get after him early, or they may not get him at all.