Texas Rangers: What really happened Tuesday night with Yu Darvish?

Tuesday night’s strange outing by Texas Rangers starter Yu Darvish has many asking, “What happened?”

Texas Rangers starter Yu Darvish took the hill Tuesday night for game two of their series with the Oakland Athletics and it began like many of his previous starts. He looked good early, throwing plenty of strikes and making outs. The Oakland hitters remained off-balance the first couple of times through the lineup and Darvish seemed in control.

The first five innings

Through the first five innings, Darvish was in total control. He had the type of command, movement and velocity that pitchers have when they toss no-hit bids. Darvish came as close as he could to that for five innings, retiring the first seven hitters he faced and allowing just one hit. Yet, he faced the minimum after five innings thanks to a double play in the third to erase a single.

Aside from that single, it felt like it was 2013 with Yu Darvish facing the Houston Astros. Remember this game? What about this one? That’s how he looked. Although he only had four strikeouts to that point, he still dominated. But then things changed.

The sixth inning

The Texas Rangers offense scratched out two runs in the top of the sixth to build a 2-0 lead. Stepping onto the mound with a lead for the first time that night, Darvish badly needed a shutdown inning to set a tone. That didn’t happen.

He walked Trevor Plouffe on five pitches and then Bruce Maxwell hit a very hard liner off of him. If it wasn’t for an acrobatic grab by left fielder Jurickson Profar, the shutout would have ended there. But it didn’t last long.

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Enter Adam Rosales. Remember him, Rangers fans? The guy is the epitome of a number nine hitter. He played two seasons and some change with Texas from 2013-2015 and if you count his .304 batting average in limited playing time this season, he has a lifetime average of just .228. He did hit 13 home runs in 248 plate appearances last season, but he also batted .229.

And much like Marwin Gonzalez in 2013, Rosales suddenly had Yu’s number. He worked a 3-1 count to put Darvish on the ropes. On the next pitch, he cranked an 88 MPH cut fastball deep into the left field seats.

An acrobatic save from Profar was not humanly possible on this one. That bad boy was gone.

Texas Rangers pitching coach Doug Brocail came out to talk to Darvish, along with catcher Jonathan Lucroy. Perhaps a pep talk and reminder of how awesome he is would do some good . . . or not.

Darvish then yielded a double to Jaff Decker and walked Yonder Alonso. Manager Jeff Banister had seen enough and gave Darvish the hook. Something was awry.

The comments by Darvish

Mixed reactions followed the eventual loss, marking Texas’ ninth. The move completely took Darvish by surprise and he had the following to say after the game:

"“I thought I was in a good place. I knew I was pitching a lot in that inning but the pitch count was 80-something. I thought he was coming out to talk to me. It was something I didn’t expect.”"

After watching a replay of the game, it’s clear Yu was surprised to see Banister. That’s kind of understandable. The game was tied 2-2 with one out in the bottom of the sixth. Like he said, he’d only thrown 82 pitches. It seemed like the type of situation most aces get the chance to work out of. But he was done for the evening.

The comments by Banister

Of course, he also may have forgotten that Brocail came out of the dugout following the Rosales homer. Remember, once a coach/manager leaves the dugout a second time, there has to be a pitching change. Also, maybe seeing the manager leave the dugout surprised him. Banister’s take is a little more understandable, though.

"“You’d love for your No. 1 guy out there to have an opportunity to work through those kinds of situations but we just felt like he was at 26 pitches in the inning, however, the look of it didn’t present itself to let him continue.”"

The comments by Brocail

That makes sense. Throwing 26 pitches for one out, coupled with the two runs allowed and two guys on base, that’s not a questionable decision. But is that the whole story? What about Brocail’s comments?

"“He went out there with his off-speed and didn’t fare well. I was ready for him to come out of the game.”"

Then, Brocail went on to say the following:

"“The first five innings he got away with a lot of stuff. He didn’t pitch [inside] at all.”"

He later added this:

"You can’t allow late in a game for guys to dive [swing across the plate]. I thought his delivery sped up in the sixth. His tempo was phenomenal 1 through 5. I preach to these guys, if you don’t pitch in it will haunt you and it came back and haunted us tonight.”"

So, did this have to do less with pitch count and more about insubordination? That’s the way Brocail makes it sound.

Either Banister’s comments are true and it had to do with just getting a guy out that had gassed himself or was in over his head, or Brocail’s were true and it had to do with Darvish not following strategy. This begs two big questions.

Which scenario is worse?

What’s wrong with a high pitch count for one inning? Yes, he took a lot of pitches to get one out in the sixth. But with only 82 through 5 1/3, did he still warrant the chance to work out of it? It’s bad, but should they have pulled him yet? Perhaps pitch count didn’t get him yanked.

Not following a manager or coach’s orders is a bad thing. But isn’t that better as something dealt with following the game behind a closed door? That’s been the way most managers have handled things in the past.

Bringing it out in the open like Brocail did is a little troubling. But of course, maybe we’re making a bigger deal out of this thing than there really is.

Would this happen to other top-level pitchers?

Look at a guy like Clayton Kershaw. Place him this same situation. With an out and two on in the sixth inning of a 2-2 game, he’d likely get a shot at a double play. He’d certainly get that shot at a pitch count of just 82.

The same could be said about Jake Arrieta. He probably gets the benefit of the doubt in this situation.

Looking within the same Texas Rangers roster, there’s a good chance Cole Hamels would get the shot to work out of it. But that didn’t happen Tuesday with Darvish.

Next: There is something seriously wrong with Sam Dyson

Either way, there’s something billowing from the Rangers pitching staff. Perhaps that’s just a little steam letting out. But maybe it’s smoke and where there’s smoke, there’s fire. No matter the case, this will be worth keeping an eye on. Do take encouragement in know though, that Darvish and Brocail met Wednesday to look at film and discuss the game. Let’s just hope it’s a little bit of steam and nothing more.

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Texas Rangers: What’s going on with Yu Darvish?

By Stephen Francis | Apr 20, 2017