Yu Darvish Tweet-Slaps a Chicago Sports Media Personality
After a year and a half of injuries and an almost pathological lack of command, Yu Darvish finally seems to have gotten his shit together.
In fact, dude's been hanging out on the fringes of ace territory for the better part of two months now, something that must please the Chicago Cubs immensely.
This renaissance has also included an increase in confidence, as the Japanese-Iranian is practically swaggering these days.
Why he'll even take to the Twitter if necessary to silence anyone who dares throw shade in his general direction:
That's damn right.
Some Chicago sports dude by the name of David Kaplan made the ill-advised decision to get after Yu after a poor start at home against the Giants.
The Cubs ultimately won this video game by the score of 12-11, but Darvish allowed six earned runs for a no-decision.
Apparently, Kaplan felt it was necessary to share his research with the masses.
We just did the research here in the studio @NBCSChicago. This season when he has any 2 strike count on a hitter, @faridyu is throwing nearly 80% off speed pitches. 3 of the HR’s he allowed tonight were with 2 strikes and those 3 all were off speed pitches. #YuTooPredictable
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) August 22, 2019
Yu Darvish vs RHB 2019
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) August 22, 2019
Fastballs Offspeed
BA .164 .231
OBP .259 .322
SLG .323 .423
OPS .582 .745
K% 31.3% 49.2%
HR% 3.5% 5.1% https://t.co/XEK4gldmzg
When Darvish got wind of this nonsense, he replied with his own data.
Not including tonight’s game.
— γγ«γγγ·γ₯ζ(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) August 22, 2019
Against lefty after two strilke.
Off speed pitch .137AVG .205OBP .222SLG .427OPS
4 seam .350AVG .435OBP .650SLG .1085OPS
Which one is better choiceπ€ https://t.co/gJQRZiMbJD
That's right, David.
Yu just asked you a question.
What say you?
Uh, no.
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) August 22, 2019
The discrepancy is even greater with 2 strikes. RH w/2 strikes in 2019 are slashing .029/.098/.029 against fastballs vs. .167/.239/.262 against offspeed. RH batters are 3-for-104 in at-bats ending with Darvish’s fastball/cutter when the count gets to 2 strikes.
Hmm, Kevin Pillar sure didn’t look left handed to me.
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) August 22, 2019
Then Yu dropped the hammer, overwhelming Kaplan with numbers.
"Including" tonight's game
— γγ«γγγ·γ₯ζ(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) August 22, 2019
Splitter aginst righty's .030AVG .030OBP .121SLG .152OPS 20Ks.
So Pillar is first righty to hit my Splitter this season. https://t.co/CkCI4qCsVe
We are talking about after two strike rihgt?
— γγ«γγγ·γ₯ζ(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) August 22, 2019
Also that pitch for Pillar was splitter.
After two stilke aginst righty.
Fastballs .067AVG .176OBP .067SLG .243OPS.
Splitter .032AVG .032OBP .129SLG .161OPS. https://t.co/pW5d38a680
Also your number is wrong I guess.
— γγ«γγγ·γ₯ζ(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) August 22, 2019
Fastballs .250AVG .381OBP .489SLG .870OPS.
Off speed .137AVG .201OBP .261SLG .462OPS.
You can't win agains Cubs database. https://t.co/pW5d38a680
It's somehow cordial and harsh all at once.
Kaplan had no choice but to surrender.
I have absolutely loved my pitching discussion with @faridyu. Respectful and fun. Man, I wish all athletes could have as much fun interacting as Yu does. Guy is a lot of fun. Hope we can sit down and talk soon.
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) August 22, 2019
Hmmm, David seems contrite all of a sudden.
Darvish decided to twist the knife one last time.
I'm waiting on the ring Davidπ₯π₯π https://t.co/teMcANS14o
— γγ«γγγ·γ₯ζ(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) August 22, 2019
And what did Cubs skipper Joe Maddon think of all this:
Well, that escalated quickly...
— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs) August 22, 2019
Joe Maddon weighs in on @thekapman and @faridyu's π€πͺπ·πͺπ debate π pic.twitter.com/cZieEK9XzJ
Bully for Yu, indeed.