Yu Darvish - Pitching Style

Pitching Style

Darvish is a right-handed pitcher who throws from a three-quarter arm slot in a drop-and-drive motion. He has an exceptionally large frame for a Japanese pitcher, listed at 6 ft 5 in and 215 lb. Darvish throws a four-seam fastball whose usual speed is around 91–95 mph and tops out at 97 mph in World Baseball Classic final in 2009), as well as a hard slurve in the low 80s with a sharp break. He complements these two with a wide repertoire of secondary pitches, including a two-seam fastball (also described as a shuuto), cutter, two curveballs, a changeup, and a splitter. Darvish has a "fast curve" and a "slow curve", the former averaging about 80 mph and the latter about 71. The slow curve is almost exclusively used in no-strike and 1-strike counts, while the fast curve is mostly used in 2-strike counts.

Advance scouting on Darvish is made difficult by his tendency to change his most frequent pitch sequences over time.

While Darvish uses both the set, or "stretch" position and the windup, he has been noted for pitching exclusively from the stretch at times, even when there is no one on base. While pitching from the windup is generally thought to add velocity to pitches, the set position allows pitchers more control over baserunners. In Darvish's case the set position often is used as a way of keeping his delivery in sync and consistent.

Prior to the 2006 season Darvish's "go-to" pitch was a screwball, and he tends to rely more on his off-speed pitches than his fastball. After injuring his shoulder in an exhibition game start against the 2006 World Baseball Classic Japanese national team in February 2006, because of the strain the screwball had gradually been putting on his shoulder, he took the pitch out of his in-game repertoire and worked to develop his splitter until it became an equally effective pitch that would replace the screwball. He also has succeeded in increasing his fastball velocity from year to year.