Are Yu Okay?
By Jared Sandler | @SandlerJ
Take a deep breath. Yu Darvish's premature exit from his 2015 Spring Training debut appears nothing more than a precautionary move.
The righty from Osaka, Japan was supposed to throw either two innings or approximately 35 pitches, whichever came first. Instead, right triceps tightness limited him to one scoreless, twelve-pitch inning.
There were certainly some positives over the four batters Darvish faced, but more on that in a second. The most important positive is that his health does not to be a concern based on his jovial disposition at the podium following his outing.
Speaking in English, Darvish smiled: "It was good, right?" referring to his outing. "I'm not disappointed in anything. If I was disappointed I couldn't make a joke."
A smile on the outside is only as strong as one on the inside, so time will tell the severity of this precautionary measure, but if I went to Vegas on this one, I wouldn't put my money on infirmary red.
Triceps tightness aside, Darvish threw 12 pitches, afterwards explaining that ten were fastballs with one change up and one slider added to the mix. His fastball topped out at 92 mph, averaging 89 mph.
He located his pitches well and cycled through each of his four batters in three pitches or less. Efficiency is always key for a strikeout pitcher like Darvish to help prolong his outings.
Darvish made just 22 starts in 2014 before he was shut down because of inflammation in his right elbow ligament. He will be re-evaluated tomorrow when further information about his future status will be provided.
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Earlier in the day at the "Manager's meeting," the daily chat between Rangers skipper, Jeff Banister, and the media, the topic of discussion was baserunning. After the Rangers' Cactus League opener, Banister referenced a challenge to his players to become the type of baserunners for whom other teams have to prepare. That comment spring-boarded today's chat.
Expanding on his philosophies, Banister explained that he wants an aggressive, but smart, team on the bases. When asked about the philosophies of former manager, Ron Washington, who offered plenty of freedom to his players so as to avoid them over-thinking their baserunning decisions, Banister said, "I concur."
Unfortunately, that free-wheeling aggressiveness, which one was a boon for the team's baserunning success, has hurt them in recent years. While baserunning isn't solely defined by stolen bases, it is a very easy measuring stick to use. Last season the Rangers ranked eighth in stolen bases (105), but they got caught stealing (59) more than any other team in baseball. Only two teams were less successful as defined by stolen base percentage.
Those figures don't even measure the countless palm-to-forehead moments on the bases last year with players carelessly giving away outs.
I'm interested to witness the Banister effect on the bases, if there is any at all.
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*Right-handed reliever, Roman Mendez (1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 K, 1 BB) raised some eyebrows hitting 94 mph on the in-stadium radar gun.
*Ryan Rua bounced back from a rough opener by successfully executing a hit-and-run, grounding out but protecting the runner, and tripling home two runs down the left-field line.
*Jared Hoying, who is a candidate for a backup outfield role if Delino DeShields Jr. falters, was one of two Rangers with multiple hits, going 2-for-3. Robinson Chirinos, who also went 2-for-3, was the other.
*The Rangers will not go winless in their Cactus League schedule...I don't think.