Yu Darvish's Debut With Texas Rangers Proves Successful, Promising
Yu Darvish's spring debut on Wednesday as pitcher for the Texas Rangers proves that his trade from Japan to America was well worth the money, and critics argue that he is a worthy Major League pitcher.
At Wednesday's game against the San Diego Padres, Darvish's impressive numbers spoke for themselves. He threw 36 pitches, 26 of which were strikes and nine swinging, according to Fox Sports. His fastball range was 91-95 mph.
According to NBC's local Fort Worth Channel 5 station, Darvish is the newest and most expensive starting pitcher. The Texas team spent $107 million this winter to recruit Darvish, who previously played as dominant pitcher for seven years in Japan, according to Timesunion.com.
NBC contends that the 25-year-old Japanese national "exhibited a veteran-like composure as he quickly worked himself out of trouble" at his spring debut on Wednesday.
Wednesday's game did not go without controversy, however. Darvish made a questionably snide comment regarding San Diego Padres outfielder Will Venable's batting capabilities, saying that he was aided by the elements.
"With the dry air in Arizona and the wind blowing out, it carried the ball," an interpreter quoted Darvish as saying after Wednesday's game, according to SportingNews.
"It didn't seem like a ball that was hit that squarely," Darvish reportedly added.
Venable did not take Darvish's comments kindly, replying by saying Darvish's "perception of reality isn't right on."
It was later argued that Darvish's comment was mistranslated and that in reality he said, "I didn't think he hit it that far, but he sure has lots of power," according to agent Don Nomura, as reported by SportingNews.
The Rangers won Wednesday's game 6-2 over the Padres, with Darvish striking out three in two scoreless innings. Critics contend that his successful spring debut on Wednesday proves he is a true major league pitcher.
According to ESPNDallas.com, Darvish is next expected to pitch for the Rangers against the Cleveland Indians on March 13.
