Yu Darvish was the Padres' stopper
When the Padres needed him to avoid losing three straight, Yu Darvish showed up with one of his best performances since being traded to San Diego by the Cubs.
The other day, I was thinking to myself that Yu Darvish was having a very good season outside of his early-season clunker in San Francisco. The two thoughts that followed were “I still think the issue in San Francisco is that he was so cold he couldn’t feel his fingertips,” and “I wonder how good he is doing if you ignored that one start.”
Well, he pitched another brilliant one last night, and The Athletic’s Dennis Lin decided to answer my thought for me.
First, let’s talk about Yu last night. It wasn’t his first time facing the Cubs since they traded him to the Padres in a salary-dump move, but it was the first time he pitched in Wrigley since then. And he did not disappoint.
I specifically loved a moment that happened in the 8th inning after Darvish had gotten two outs and then put a couple of guys on base. Usually, that’s when Bob Melvin would’ve walked out to ask his starter if he wanted to try and finish the inning. But with Bob still dealing with COVID, and his bench coach doing the same, Ryan Flaherty had pitching coach Ruben Niebla do the honors.
Darvish was ready with an answer before Niebla even stepped foot on the mound. He wanted to finish this. And then he did.
Which brings me to Dennis Lin reading my mind and answering my question…
Last year, I famously said in June that Yu Darvish was a legitimate Cy Young contender. And, at that time, I was right. Eventually, his body broke down under the stress of being one of the only healthy pitchers in the rotation.
This year, with a bigger rotation and less riding on every Darvish start, he looks more healthy and efficient. I would say Joe Musgrove might be the leading NL Cy Young contender, but Yu Darvish and MacKenzie Gore are both also in the conversation. That’s an incredible useful thing for the Padres to have while their offense continues to search for stable footing.
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