Scouting Report: Yu Darvish, RHP, Nippon Ham Fighters - Dice-K, Watch Out
Posted by Alan Hull on May 14th, 2008
Daisuke “Dice-K” Matsuzaka had better watch out. There is a new Japanese phenom on the horizon. Yu Darvish, the 6′ 5″ half-Japanese, half-Iranian fire-baller has already won the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young award as well as the equivalent of the World Series MVP and he’s only 21.
Darvish pitched a no-hitter in the Koshien national high school tournament, an event comparable in popularity to March Madness, but because of his mixed racial makeup, only one team drafted him, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. Bobby Valentine said of the discrimination: “My scouting director here didn’t think he was what our fans really would like to root for…That scouting director is no longer with us.” Now, Darvish’s race isn’t even an issue as he is one of the country’s most popular figures.
Japanese career:
Darvish debuted in 2005, pitching 94.1 innings with 52/48 K/BB and a 3.53 ERA, finishing with a 5-5 record. In 2006 Darvish pitched 149.2 innings with 115/64 K/BB and a 2.89 ERA, finishing with a 12-5 record. In 2007, Darvish pitched 207.2 innings with a 1.89 ERA, striking out 210 and walking 49, finishing with a 15-5 record.
Scouting Report:
Baseball America reports Darvish throws a fastball that sits in the low 90’s but can reach 95-96 mph. He also throws a curveball, slider, splitter and changeup. One international scout says:
“He has plus stuff, and plus command and control to go with plus makeup. If I had a big game, I would be comfortable with him on the mound. He’s a No. 1 starter for me. Absolutely filthy last year, and he played most of the year at 20. We’ll see what happens as the innings pile on his arm, but he would be 1-1 in the draft. . .We’re not talking a ‘blow them away with a fastball and knee-wobbling stuff’ kind of guy. We’re talking a kid with a projectable body who knows how to pitch and is still developing physically—and is really good right now. He still might end up with jaw-dropping stuff. He’s still very young.”
Kansas City Royals manager Trey Hillman, who managed Darvish and the Nippon Ham Fighters before coming to the Royals add:
“In my opinion, he’s one of the best in the world at 21. . .He’s got an array of every pitch you’d want to see with the exception of a knuckleball. He throws a four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, movement that is natural and really unfair. He has velocity, 92-95, to go with it. He’s a tremendous competitor, a great worker, a great teammate, handles fame very well.”
Jim Callis of BA says that had Darvish been a prospect in the MLB prior to the 2008 season, he would have ranked Darvish as the #3 prospect, behind Jay Bruce and Evan Longoria, but ahead of Joba Chamberlain and Clay Buchholz.
Will Yu Darvish be posted like Dice-K?
The issue is that Darvish is still under control by his club and wouldn’t be a free agent for another five seasons. Like Daisuke Matsukaza, Darvish could come to the states sooner if he is posted, in which case the Nippon Ham Fighters could conceivably receive more than the $51 million the Red Sox spent to secure the rights to sign Dice-K. The ball is in the Nippon Ham Fighters’ court. Nippon Ham general manager Masao Yamada said he would consider posting Darvish and would not hold him against his will: “We will admit a transfer, if it is allowed by the system. . .We won’t chain our players. Actually, we want to train players like the majors are looking for and [see them] perform well over there. That’s kind of our goal.”
Darvish could be posted as soon as the 2008-09 off-season and all of the big market teams will be in the mix to sign him.
Here is some footage of Darvish from a Japanese show, so the commentary is in Japanese, but you get a good look at his stuff. That curveball really seems to baffle his opposition and he seems to be able to bury it in the dirt.
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May 15th, 2008 at 7:16 am
I read that entire article from ESPN and there was some pretty interesting stuff in there. Beyond the nastiness that is Yu Darvish, the whole situation with how the league is run in Japan was intriguing. It wouldn’t shock me in the least to see the team post him early since it is run more like a business rather than a competing baseball team backed by a business.
In a way, I would love to see that happen but to watch the Red Sox throw another 50 mil away just to speak to someone would make me sick to my stomach. That is a LOT of money.
May 15th, 2008 at 11:53 am
[…] yesterday’s piece on Yu Darvish, I got the this comment from Sox Addict writer Michael Christopher, regarding the possibility of the Red Sox pursuing […]