Looking to win their first World Series since 1988, the Los Angeles Dodgers made a big addition just before the trade deadline in 2017, acquiring the best starting pitcher on the market at the time, Yu Darvish, from the Texas Rangers.
The acquisition looked to be a good one for the Dodgers as Darvish was solid down the stretch in the regular season and superb in his first two postseason starts during the National League Division and Championship Series.
Things went south quickly though when Darvish got hit hard by the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the World Series. He had a chance to redeem himself in Game 7 but again lasted just 1.2 innings while allowing five runs.
The Dodgers went on to watch the Astros celebrate a World Series championship on their home field. Darvish hit free agency that offseason and signed a six-year, $126 million contract with the rival Chicago Cubs.
The 32-year-old faced his former team for the first time at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night, but before he took the mound, Kiké Hernandez set the record straight, arguing the Dodgers’ World Series loss to the Astros was not Darvish’s fault, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I don’t think Yu Darvish lost the World Series,” Kiké Hernandez said. “I think the Dodgers did.”
Clayton Kershaw, who is a good friend of Darvish’s as the two pitchers have trained together in the offseason in Texas, echoed Hernandez’s sentiment:
“People forget fast that we’re not in that position without him,” Kershaw said. “Fans have the right to boo players who don’t perform, there’s no doubt about it,” Kershaw said. “I just think when you’re in here in the clubhouse with the team and you know everything we go through on a day-in, day-out basis and you know Yu performed really well up to that point, pitched two really big games to get into the World Series – against the Diamondbacks and the Cubs. We wouldn’t even have been in that position without him. People forget that fast and I understand that. But to us, to me – he was a big contributor to us being there in the first place. That’s kind of how I think about it.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts urged fans not to boo Darvish when he took the mound for his first start against Los Angeles, but that did not stop of the Dodger Stadium crowd from letting him hear it.
Darvish spoke about how important that start was for him, and he went out and backed it up to exorcise some personal demons. He allowed a solo home run to Alex Verdugo, just two hits overall, and finished with 10 strikeouts in seven innings.
Darvish was still bound for a tough-luck loss until Anthony Rizzo’s game-winning home run off Kenley Jansen in the ninth inning. And with the first start against the Dodgers now behind him, Darvish expressed confidence in his ability to move on.
