When the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Yu Darvish from the Texas Rangers at the non-waiver deadline, he gave the team a premier right-handed pitcher to again pair with Clayton Kershaw. That role was filled by Zack Greinke for three seasons, until he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Although Darvish was a needed complement in a rotation chockfull of left-handers, it appears his start in the National League Division Series won’t come until Game 3. Kershaw is aligned to take the ball in Game 1, with Rich Hill to follow in Game 2.
With Darvish not starting in either of the first two games, his outing will come on the road. Whether that’s Chase Field or Coors Field won’t be known until the final out is recorded in the NL Wild Card Game on Wednesday night.
While the Dodgers were in Colorado for a weekend series, manager Dave Roberts explained the team had Darvish pitch off the mound at Coors Field to familiarize himself with the setting, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“Instead of putting him in the ‘pen, if for some reason he has an opportunity to pitch here, just to get him a little more familiar with the mound,” said manager Dave Roberts. “It was my view, because it’s different here and Yu just loves information. He takes it all in and applies it accordingly.”
Darvish has never pitched at Coors Field in his career. His first outing against the Rockies didn’t come until September of this season. The 31-year-old allowed five runs on five hits (one home run) and struck out six in just 4.1 innings of work.
Darvish has only made two starts at Chase Field, with one coming this season after he joined the Dodgers. The right-hander struck out 10 and allowed two runs, five hits (one home run) in five innings and earned the win.
He’s 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in two career starts. One of which was in the American League Wild Card Game, and the other the AL Division Series.
