Well, let's just all hope that was a sign of things to come. Yu Darvish was excellent in his Cactus League finale, as the Texas Rangers hurler struck out 11 in six innings of work. Darvish's command, which has come and gone this spring, was much improved, as he walked only one batter. He did give up three runs on six hits -- including a two run home run to Jason Giambi.
Still, Darvish was as impressive as he could be. His fastball touched as high as 97 mph, and his secondary pitches were nasty to say the least. How nasty? Courtesy of the folks at Lone Star Ball, take a look:
via i.imgur.com
Yeah, that's pretty sweet. Darvish struck out Colorado's two best hitters, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez, three times -- each.
Again, not that spring numbers mean a whole lot, but Darvish struck out 17 batters in his 13 Cactus League innings -- good for an 11.76 K/9. Darvish did walk eight in 13 innings this spring, but, as we all witnessed, he was battling through bouts of wildness with his four seam fastball. If his command is anything like it was against the Rockies, he is going to be one of the elite pitchers in the American League.
Darvish's much anticipated MLB debut will come Monday, April 9 when he takes on Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners at home in Arlington.