It’s not me, it’s Yu

[UK]

Caratini reminds me of the default face when you create a player in the '11 MLB The Show.

[Sammy Sofa]

Caratini reminds me of the default face when you create an orc in Skyrim.

Fixed that.

[The Logan]

Caratini reminds me of the default face when you create an orc in Skyrim.

Fixed that.

I used to be a catcher like you, but then I took a foul ball to the knee.

[WrigleyField 22]

Yu and Vic is my new favorite bromance.

Better than Bryzzo.

[Cubswin11]

What a treasure

[Brian]

[TomtheBombadil]

The Astros owe Yu say $40 million

[CubinNY]

The Astros owe Yu say $40 million

Turns out he wasn't actually tipping his pitches.

[champaignchris]

The Astros owe Yu say $40 million

Turns out he wasn't actually tipping his pitches.

He was tipping his pitches in that he was nodding when he agreed with the catcher’s signal.

[TomtheBombadil]

I wandered onto his Bbref page including the NPB years and....is Darvish a guy on a HoF track? These next 4 years would have to go amazing probably but between the NPB and MLB he's already got over 2300 innings with a sub-3 ERA and RA9. It helps that my last/only memory of 2019 Darvish is him blacking 97 on foes, but the guy's an animal

[Cubswin11]

I wandered onto his Bbref page including the NPB years and....is Darvish a guy on a HoF track? These next 4 years would have to go amazing probably but between the NPB and MLB he's already got over 2300 innings with a sub-3 ERA and RA9. Guy's an animal. It helps that my last/only memory of 2019 Darvish is him blacking 97 on foes

Did Nomo have any traction for the HOF? He’s probably the best proxy for Yu’s chances.

[TomtheBombadil]

Did Nomo have any traction for the HOF? He’s probably the best proxy for Yu’s chances.

Darvish already has more career WAR in the MLB. I'm too lazy to compare eras but Darvish also seems to have been way better in the NPB. Like Nomo, I wouldn't be stunned if he is pitching at 39+ maybe into his 40s either

[Bertz]

From an Eno Sarris article in The Athletic about pitchers who changed in September:

It doesn’t look as compelling as maybe the change in release point graph for Yu Darvish, but the pitch mix graph contains a few subtle changes that were just as important for Darvish’s awesome late-season run as his mechanical change was. By throwing his curve and cutter more, and his fastballs less often, he concentrated on three of his four best pitches more often, pushing his stuff number from really good to one that would sit fifth right behind Tyler Glasnow, Gerrit Cole, Garret Richards, and Walker Buehler.

He still doesn’t have good command, but, hey, this change also improved his Command+ number because, look at this, the pitches he commands least are his fastballs and his changeup. So using the cutter for strikes and the four-seam, slider, and curve for whiffs… that’s a thing that can stick with Darvish even if his release point slips back to where it was before. This is one of the benefits of having so many pitch types.

[Bertz]

Fell down a Yu Darvish rabbit hole this morning. Looking at the 2nd half league wide, here are Yu's ranks among starters with at least 50 IP (109 pitchers):

K% - 3rd (37.8%)
BB% - 1st (2.2%)
ERA - 10th (2.76)
FIP - 7th (2.83)
xFIP - 2nd (2.37)
GB% - 51st (43.1%)
HR/FB% - 104th (19.7%)
% of Balls in the Zone - 26th (50.2%)
Opponent chase rate - 3rd (40.4%)
Contact % - 11th (70.2%)

Those are legit, true ace numbers. Basically Cole and Verlander are the only guys who were consistently above him.

I'm a bit torn. Historically 1st Half/2nd Half splits are meaningless. For every guy who makes a permanent change that carries forward there's three for whom it was just a hot streak. However, Yu made a number of significant changes over the course of the season, so I want to believe they're real and permanent. It's also possible he was just knocking the rust off for the first month after missing so much time in 2018.

On the other hand, it's somewhat rare for extreme HR/FB numbers in either direction to be more than dumb luck. And Yu's full season numbers still have him as the 15th best starter in the league by xFIP. So as much as regression might take away K and BB wise from him it's likely to give back dong-wise.

[Cubswin11]

He was basically god mode Jake in the second half if the HR rates were normalized. I expect a very solid year out of him, assuming health.

[Bertz]

[Deeg]

Best twitter account on the planet.

[David]

[Bertz]

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

https://twitter.com/ESPNChiCubs/statuses/1237752984773091329

Blood type is kind of like Japanese astrology, but taken much more seriously. During WW2, Japanese amry units used to be segregated by blood type not because everyone could donate blood to each other or have the correct supply on hand, but because it was believed they would work as units better. They even have laws that you can't ask about blood type before job interviews, and often times the laws are disregarded.

[Bertz]

[Bertz]

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

Score! The "Eat fried chicken until death" t shirt I got last Christmas remains topical. Yu is the best.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Yu takes a stand in the great “Popeyes vs Chik-fil-A” debate!

[Regular Show]

It looks like a power sinker to me. The article claims Darvish has 11 pitches(!) now which is truly insane...

The eephus/slow curveball is probably my favorite Darvish pitch.