Yu Darvish dials it up to 97 in rehab appearance
Yu Darvish made his first minor league rehab start of the season on Sunday, and it really could not have gone much better. Darvish threw 32 pitches, allowing no hits, no runs and one walk while striking out two. His fastball routinely hit 94, topping out at 97.
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Ninety-seven, you guys. That works.
If you're wondering about his breaking stuff, just look at the finishing pitch in this video. Pure wickedness.
When asked what he was thinking prior to his appearance, Darvish had jokes:
“Seriously, I hoped that I was not going to blow my elbow,” Darvish said. “That’s what I was thinking. That was my first concern. I’m very happy about my outing.”
Darvish missed the 2015 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March, but there have been no significant negative reports about his recovery. He was outstanding in his brief appearance on Sunday — vintage Yu, really. He has additional rehab starts ahead, gradually increasing his pitch counts, and he's expected to return to the Texas rotation this month. The Rangers have not indicated that Darvish's workload this season will have a hard limit; he's likely to deliver 20-plus starts and 120-130 innings.
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And, based on Sunday's performance, we can assume that Darvish's innings this season will be of the highest quality. He remains un-owned in 12 percent of Yahoo leagues, which is insane. This is a dominant starter, nearing his 2016 MLB debut.
