Yu Darvish is now with a new team and has a chance to make people start forgetting about what happened in the World Series.
After excellent outings against the Diamondbacks and Cubs in his first two postseason appearances for the Dodgers, Darvish was blown up by the Houston Astros in the World Series twice. He lost Games 3 and 7, failing to make it out of the second inning both times. He never stood a chance as Houston jumped on him for four earned runs both times.
Despite the World Series performance, Darvish signed a six-year, $126 million deal with the Chicago Cubs. He made his spring training debut on Tuesday against his former team and was asked about his World Series implosion. Specifically, he was asked whether his struggles were due to tipping pitches.
“Obviously, the Astros are a great, strong team,” Darvish said through his interpreter, via the OC Register. “I don’t really know, honestly, if that was it or if the Astros are simply a good team. I think it was partly me not being at my top level in the World Series.”
Other explanations for his issues were the slick ball, which prevented him from throwing his slider well, but the pitch-tipping theory is what makes the most sense. Darvish was so good in his first two postseason starts that what happened in the World Series made little sense. Even an Astros player revealed that Darvish was tipping pitches in the World Series.
