The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs have built up a bit of a rivalry the past couple of years as they have met in each of the last two National League Championship Series, with the Cubs winning in 2016 and the Dodgers returning the favor in 2017.
This offseason the Cubs poached away two of the Dodgers biggest contributors on their pitching staff from last season, signing both Brandon Morrow and Yu Darvish to multi-year deals.
Morrow and Darvish made their respective Cubs debuts on Tuesday, and coincidentally it came against their former team as the Cubs hosted the Dodgers at Sloan Park.
Darvish gave up a run in two hitless innings, striking out four while walking two. Morrow also gave up a run, although it was unearned as he allowed two hits, one of which was a double to Yasiel Puig that drove Justin Turner home on a throwing error.
It appears neither Darvish or Morrow quite let loose, though the latter was still pleased with his performance, via ESPN’s Jesse Rogers:
Darvish said he wanted to make sure he didn’t hit any of his former teammates, while Cubs closer Brandon Morrow also indicated he backed off a little in his first appearance this spring.
“Did everything I wanted to do,” Morrow said afterward. “I was 95/98 mph without really trying to step on the gas. That’s a good sign.”
Given that it was Morrow’s first outing of the spring, it is not a surprise that he didn’t come out giving 100 percent of everything he has, and the same holds true for Darvish.
The Dodgers are very familiar with what Morrow is capable of though, as he went 6-0 with a 2.06 ERA, 1.55 FIP and 0.96 WHIP in 43.2 innings for them last year.
Morrow didn’t start the 2017 season with the big league club but by the end of the year he wound up being Kenley Jansen’s primary setup man. Morrow became just the second pitcher ever to appear in all seven games of a World Series.
The 33-year-old parlayed that successful campaign into a two-year, $21 million deal to be the Cubs closer. Morrow could potentially be pitching against the Dodgers in the next couple of postseasons, and he likely won’t take it easy on them in those settings.
