Darvish’s first starts

Chicago Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish started the Cubs’ second game of the 2020 season and allowed 3 runs (all earned) in 4 innings. He took the first loss of this season and it’s Davis Ross’ first loss as a Cubs manager. Darvish inked the deal with the Chicago Cubs in February 2018. From 2018 to 2020, he failed to pitch at least 5 innings in his first start of the season every year. The Rangers signed Yu Darvish in January 2012 after winning the posting bid in late 2011 and Darvish made his MLB debut on April 9, 2012. From 2012 to 2017, Darivsh pitched at least five innings in his first start every season. He underwent Tommy John surgery on March 17, 2015 and missed the whole season.

Darvish’s first game each season
Date	Team	IP
2012-04-09	Rangers	5.2
2013-04-02	Rangers	8.2
2014-04-06	Rangers	7.0
2016-05-28	Rangers	5.0
2017-04-03	Rangers	6.1
2018-03-31	Cubs	4.1
2019-03-30	Cubs	2.2
2020-07-25	Cubs	4.0

Darvish has thrown more than 1300 strikeouts. He had a 3.58 career ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. It should not be a problem to say that he’s a good pitcher. However, what happened to him in the first start in the last three seasons?

Last season, Darvish gave up 7 free passes. It seemed that he truly struggled at the beginning of the season. The first game of this season, Darvish did not give up any free passes, but he allowed 6 hits. In 2018 and 2019, he gave up a 2-run homer to Derek Dietrich and Asdrubal Cabrera each.

Darvish’s first start last 3 seasons
Year	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP
2018	4.1	5	5	1	2	4	1.62
2019	2.2	2	3	1	7	4	3.38
2020	4.0	6	3	0	0	5	1.50

Darvish struggled with his control last year and couldn’t even finish the 3rd inning. In his career, pitches per plate appearance are 3.937. However, in the last 2 seasons, he really had more work to do in his first outings.

His control is not a big problem in the first start this season, but he gave up 2 extra base hits, a double by Lorenzo Cain and a 2-run triple by Ben Gamel.

Darvish’s first start last 3 seasons
Year	BF	Pitches	Strikes	GB	FB	XBH	P/PA	BAA
2018	21	102	59	6	7	1	4.86	.294
2019	16	75	38	2	3	1	4.69	.222
2020	20	73	50	5	9	2	3.65	.316

It’s not easy to hit against Darvish, batters against him only hit .219/.294 /.373. Nevertheless, we can see that when Darvish pairs with Contreras, he has a higher ERA and a lower strikeout-to-walk ratio. In 2018 and 2019, Darvish's first start of each season, the catcher was Wilson Contreras. Darvish mostly paired with Victor Caratini in the second half of the last season and Darvish had a phenomenal second half. The first game of Darvish-Caratini pairing in 2020, Darvish didn’t give up any free passes.

Darvish stats by Catcher
Catcher	G	IP	ERA	SO	K/BB	BAA
Victor Caratini	20	124.1	3.40	160	10.00	.214
Willson Contreras	16	79.0	5.47	93	2.02	.233

Normally, we don’t have to worry too much about a pitcher’s first outing of the season. The baseball season is a marathon and a starting pitcher usually has 25-30 starts in a season. If there are any problems in the first game, there is truly enough time to fix those problems. However, in a 60-game season, it’s a sprint. A starting pitcher might have only 10-12 starts. Darvish can’t make it to five innings again in his first start this season. He has to make quick adjustments in the next game or the next 2 games. Otherwise, time doesn’t wait. Nevertheless, Darvish’s first start this season is not good, but it’s not a disaster. The good news is that his control looks fine, at least no walks allowed. He has to be more effective to stay in the game longer and will look for good results.