Yu Darvish

At 37 years old, Yu Darvish has this physical status:

Sefat Farid Yu Darvish (born 16 August 1986) is a Japanese professional baseball starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball.

Darvish previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

In international play, Darvish pitched in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2009 World Baseball Classic as a member of the Japanese national team.He was considered by many to be the best pitcher in Japanese professional baseball prior to his arrival in Major League Baseball in 2012.

In his first MLB season, Darvish finished third in the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year balloting.

The next season, he finished second in the AL Cy Young Award vote as he led the Major Leagues in strikeouts with 277 and finished fourth in the AL in earned run average (ERA) at 2.83.

On 6 April 2014, Darvish reached the 500 strikeout mark in fewer innings pitched than any starting pitcher in MLB history.

Early life

Darvish was born Farid Yu Darvishsefat (ダルビッシュ・セファット・ファリード・有) in Habikino, Osaka, to a Japanese mother, Ikuyo, and Iranian father, Farsad Darvishsefat. His father played for the Florida State University soccer team. His grandfather owned a travel agency in Iran and sent his son Farsad to the United States in 1977 to attend Berkshire School in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, where he played soccer and raced competitively in motocross.

Darvish began playing baseball in second grade and led his team to the quarterfinals of the national tournament as well as a third-place finish in the international tournament as a member of the Habikino Boys. He was scouted by over 50 high schools while in junior high. He opted to attend Tohoku High School in Northern Sendai, a baseball powerhouse that produced players such as former Seattle Mariners and Yokohama BayStars closer Kazuhiro Sasaki and former BayStars and Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Takashi Saito.

Personal life

In August 2007, Darvish acknowledged a relationship with Japanese model and actress Saeko. He announced later that Saeko was pregnant with their son. They married on 11 November 2007, and their son was born in March 2008. Their second child, a boy, was born in February 2010. Darvish's divorce from Saeko was finalized on the same day in January 2012 that he officially signed with the Rangers.

Darvish established a humanitarian fund dedicated to the construction, installation, and maintenance of wells, well pumps, and rainwater storage facilities in developing countries called the "Yu Darvish Water Fund" in February 2007. He announced plans to contribute to the fund by donating 100,000 yen each time he notches a regular season win. The fund is managed by the Japan Water Forum.

An entertainment company, Avex Group Holdings Inc. manages Darvish's non-baseball rights worldwide and Darvish has appeared in ads for many companies, including Seiko, Asahi Dry Black Beer and Pocari Sweat. Also, Darvish has appeared on the covers of Japanese men's fashion magazines, such as GQ, Men's Non-No, and Gainer. Darvish was selected as the "GQ Man of the Year" in the February 2012 Japan issue.

On 30 July 2015, Darvish announced that his girlfriend, former world-champion wrestler Seiko Yamamoto, gave birth to their son on 29 July.

Darvish resides in a $4.55 million home in Evanston, Illinois. Darvish has caused controversy in his neighborhood with requests to construct a six-foot high fence around the property and to acquire adjacent land owned by the City of Evanston. The six-foot fence would require a zoning variance and would obstruct the lake views of neighbors. Darvish built a six-foot solid wood fence, and Darvish's neighbors filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court on 29 March 2019, asking a judge to rule that the Darvishes' fence obstructed their view of Lake Michigan, violating an easement and a verbal agreement.

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High school career

Darvish made his first year at Tohoku High (the equivalent of tenth grade in the United States) and led his team to four straight appearances in national tournaments held at Koshien Stadium in the spring and twice in the National High School Baseball Championship in the summer.

Darvish coached his team to the finals of the 85th National High School Baseball Championship in the summer of 2003, but lost four runs to Joso Gakuin High School, the Ibaraki champions, in a complete game loss.

Darvish pitched a no-hitter against Kumamoto Technical High School in the first round of the 76th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament as a senior on March 26, 2004. Despite outstanding outings by Darvish and sidearmer Kenji Makabe (currently with Honda Motor Company's industrial league squad), the team lost in the quarterfinals. In his four national tournament appearances, he pitched 12 games and set a new record of 87 strikeouts in 92 innings pitched and a 1.47 ERA, as well as a 1.0 ERA for his high school career, knocking out 375 in 332+13 innings (67 appearances).

Even while in junior high, Darvish was scouted by Major League teams, such as the Anaheim Angels and the Atlanta Braves. The Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Mets had expressed curiosity in signing him, but Darvish's goal remained to play for a Japanese professional team.

Darvish was named one of the best high school pitchers in the 2004 NPB amateur draft alongside Yokohama Senior High School right-hander Hideaki Wakui (later selected by the Seibu Lions) and Akita Municipal Akita Commercial High School right-hander Tsuyo Sato (Hiroshima Toyo Carp). Although the Fighters, Carp, Chunichi Dragons, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, and Orix BlueWave all considered selecting Darvish with their first-round pick in the final months, the Fighters were one of the few teams not to forego the first round in exchange for a college or industrial league player before the draft, and Orix BlueWave all considered it. Darvish was selected with a first-round pick in the 17 November draft, a signing bonus of 100 million yen, and additional performance-based compensation (the equivalent of what a first-round college or industrial league player would receive) on December 17th.

Professional career

Despite not being old enough to legally smoke nor gamble at the time, Darvish gained more attention when he was discovered smoking in a pachinko parlor on an off-day during his first Spring training in 2005. The incident caused his high school to suspend him, and the Fighters to place him under supervised custody for a long time and require him to serve in community service.

Despite his suspension, Darvish made his professional debut later this season, taking the field against the Carp in an interleague match on June 15th. Despite the fact that he gave up back-to-back solo home runs in the ninth, he pitched 8+ innings on those two runs alone and earned the victory, becoming the 12th pitcher in NPB history to win in a rookie's first appearance straight out of high school. On August 6, he won his first complete game shutout, turning the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles to only two hits and becoming the 14th pitcher in NPB history to throw a complete game shutout as a rookie out of high school. He had a 5-five record in 14 starts this season, to 94-11.3 innings with a ERA of 3.53.

Darvish had a breakout year in 2006, compiling a 12–5 record with 115 strikeouts and a 2.89 ERA. He went 10–0 on May 30th, his first Pacific League victory since 1981 (his win streak lasted until 14 April of the following season, when it reached 12–0) and playing their first championship over the Dragons since 1961. Darvish was selected to attend the first game of each of the Pacific League playoffs, Japan Series, and the 2006 Asia Series (played between the champions of Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea at the end of the season). Darvish, who was 20 years old at the time, was the first pitcher to start a Japan Series game since 1987, when under the age of 21, and he was the fifth pitcher in NPB history to win a Japan Series game at that age with his victory in Game 5 of the series. He has also been named the Most Valuable Player of Asia's.

Darvish was named the Fighters' starter for their 2007 season opener, and the Senators and Flyers' years as the Senators and Flyers) was the fourth pitcher in franchise history (included the Philadelphia and Flyers), and the other three pitchers were the rookies). In his second start against the Lions on March 30th (the game ended in a 2–2 tie in extra innings) and 14 more in a complete game victory, his second pitcher in Japanese professional baseball history to strike out 14 or more batters in two straight starts.

Darvish went on to post a 15.82 ERA (falling just 0.03 points short of the league lead) for the year, defeating hitters to a.174 batting average against and leading the league with 210 strikeouts. He helped the Fighters win their second straight league title, winning both of their first two games against the Marines in the second round of the Climax Series (playoffs).

Darvish won Game 1 of the Japan Series for the second year in a row, defeating the Dragons in a close match. Shenshin Kawakami, the third pitcher in Japan Series history, took out 13 or more batters in a single game. Darvish started Game 5 on November 1st, with the Fighters down 3–1 and facing elimination, but the Dragons managed to one run over seven innings before striking out 11. However, the Fighters had no answer for opponents Daisuke Yamai and closer Hitoki Iwase, struggling to get a single man on base and allowing the first flawless game in Japan Series history. (However, the game was not a complete game under NPB rules, which states that a perfect game must be thrown by a single pitcher.) The Dragons won the game 1–0, charging Darvish with the loss and becoming Japan Series champions. Darvish's two strikeouts in his two starts were the second-highest in a series of only five games (and the highest in a series that saw only five games).

Following the season, Darvish was given his first Eiji Sawamura Award (being the first to meet or exceed guidelines for the award in all seven categories in 14 years) and his first Most Valuable Player award. He also received the Golden Glove and Best Nine awards that year.

Darvish played for his national team in the 2007 Asian Baseball Championship (which also served as the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2008 Beijing Olympics) against Chinese Taipei on December 3, 2007. Darvish had wanted to keep his Japanese citizenship before his twentieth-second birthday so that he could compete for the national team in the Olympics.

Darvish re-signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters for 200 million yen plus compensation at piece rates on December 22, up 128 million yen from 2006. Darvish, the youngest player in Japanese baseball history, hit the 200 million yen mark at 21 years old.

Darvish was named the Fighters' starter in the season opener for the second year in a row, pitching a complete game shutout in that game (the Fighters won 1–0). Despite the fact that his team suffered in the first month of the season, Darvish continued to win at a rate that never has before. He and Eagles ace Hisashi Iwakuma emerged as the league's best in both wins and ERA as the year progressed. No one gave up a single hit in the first five innings on April ten in their first match of the season. Iwakuma went the distance, tossing three runs on three hits and giving up just one run on three hits; yet Darvish dominated this, throwing another complete game shutout on three hits and just 95 pitches in one of the season's best pitchers' duels.

Though Darvish did not pitch in the Olympics as he had hoped, he did not pitch in the Olympics, the Darvish returned to the Fighters with a 1.29 ERA and two complete games, gaining them a playoff berth in a close contest against the Marines. Although the Fighters failed to qualify for the Japan Series, Darvish took the field in two playoff games, giving up one run in a complete game win and pitching a complete game shutout in another. Despite losing to Iwakuma (who set a new 21–4 record) in victories, the teen champion ended second in all three Triple Crown categories, with a 16–4 record, 1.88 ERA, and 208 strikeouts. (It was his second straight year with an ERA under 2.20, throwing more than 200 runs, and knocking out over 200 hitters despite missing time due to the Olympics.) Nonetheless, the Sawamura Award was presented to Iwakuma, and Darvish became the second pitcher to pass the guidelines in all seven categories not to win the award (Suguru Egawa was the first to win the award in 1982).

Darvish won Game 1 of the Climax Series against the Orix Buffaloes on October 11th, allowing nine runs but leaving the team to one run while striking out 14 in a 4–1 complete game victory. He began Game 2 of the second round against the Saitama Seibu Lions on October 18th and pitched a complete game shutout in a 5–0 win, but the Fighters lost the series 4–2 and fell short of their third straight appearance in the Japan Series.

Darvish re-signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters for 270 million yen plus in piece rates on December 1, up 70 million yen from 2007.

Darvish started the Fighters' season opener in 2009 for the third year in a row, defeating the Eagles in a matchup of the reigning Sawamura Award winner and World Baseball Classic teammate Hisashi Iwakuma. Darvish lost three runs in the first innings but went the distance, allowing no runs from the second inning to a 121-pitch game loss (Iwakuma held the Fighters to one run over six innings and was credited with the victory). He struck out six straight and 11 overall on his way to a four-hit, complete game shutout over the Buffaloes on April 24, after losing the Lions to one run and striking out 11 over nine innings in a no-decision match against fellow 22-year-old Hideaki Wakui.

Darvish was kicked off the active roster for the first time in his career on August 22nd for the first time in his career due to injury. The Fighters described it as "shoulder exhaustion," and it came after a career-best start against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, in which he went eight innings but lost six earned runs in a losing effort. Darvish was activated on September 13th, but he made his second appearance against the Orix Buffaloes the following week. He was hospitalized again due to shoulder pain and a sore back three days later.

Darvish was recalled again on November 1st, just in time for the 2009 Japan Series against the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants, and he pitched Game 2 against the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants. He went six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and striking out 7 Giants and breaking out 7 Giants. He was the winning pitcher and the team beat him 4-2. The Yomiuri Giants will win the championship series of 4 games by a large margin to 1. Yu had a stress fracture of the right-hand forefinger, which was revealed during the Japan series. Darvish said he first felt pain after practice on October 28, but he kept it to himself. In addition, he was unable to use the lower part of his body due to hip pains.

At the end of the season, Darvish was named as his second Most Valuable Player and Best Nine awards. He was the third player to win two MVP awards in the NPB's first five years, joining Kazuhisa Inao and Ichiro Suzuki. However, he missed out on his second Sawamura Award to Saitama Seibu Lions ace Hideaki Wakui.

Darvish re-signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters for 330 million yen, up 60 million yen from 2009. Darvish made history by becoming Japan's youngest player to reach the 300 million yen mark on 23 years by turning out the best-paid pitcher in the Pacific League ever.

Darvish's 2010 season was another good personal effort, but he was unable to win as many games due to the Fighters' inability. The Fighters finished 74-67 but fourth place. His opening day loss was representative of his 2010 season; he pitched well but the team suffered; He started the 2010 season by losing to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on March 20th. Darvish allowed two runs early in the game to a complete loss (5 runs allowed, 3 earned runs), striking out 13. The Fighters began the season with a 5–14-1 record, giving them their lowest winning percentage in five years. They struggled in all phases of play, but Darvish continued to pitch well. And at a low point in the game, he was leading the league in strikeouts even as the remainder of the rotation was 3–9. In each of Darvish's first five starts, he struck out at least ten hitters.

Darvish's 2010 season was also notable, because rumors surrounding his potential move (or posting) to Major League Baseball soared. Darvish was interviewed by The Associated Press in which he revealed that he wanted to investigate his options at the end of the season. "I'm just focused on helping my team win this season right now," he said. Both his international exposure and chronic injuries led him to leave Japan, according to the Associated Press. In addition to back pains, he missed a start in June with a sore right knee.

Darvish pitched well down the stretch despite the injuries and potential interruptions. In those 27 innings, his last three games were complete, with 35 hitters hitting out 35 hitters. Darvish ended the season with just a 12-8 record but with a 1.78 ERA. He led the league with ten complete games, 222 strikeouts, and a 1.01 WHIP. Darvish's fourth straight sub 2.00 ERA.

Darvish revealed on his website that he would be returning to the Fighters for the 2011 season on October 18th.

Darvish agreed to a deal for the 2011 season, making him Japan's highest-paid player. His salary was 500 million Japanese Yen (which, on January 6, was converted to $6,065,490 US dollars).

The 2011 Nippon Professional Baseball season was postponed due to the Tohoku earthquake. Controversy has erupted over when baseball should return to the sport. Commissioner Ryozo Kato was chastised for comparing the resumption to Major League Baseball's return ten days after the September 11 attacks. Darvish was one of the players who felt that returning to baseball was not appropriate, adding, "I am a baseball player and a human being as well." I can't think about baseball alone as I normally do." Darvish was instrumental in raising funds for the relief effort and donated 50 million Yen (roughly US$620,000) to the Japanese Red Cross.

Eventually, the clubs decided to follow the full 144-game schedule, but the season's start will be postponed for several weeks. Darvish launched the season against the Saitama Seibu Lions on April 12th. He suffered, throwing seven runs in seven innings and losing.

This poor start to his career would not reflect on his overall success. He would not allow more than three runs in any of his starts after the first game. Darvish is expected to win his next eight starts and thirteen of his next fourteen votes. Darvish is expected to finish with his best all-around season, winning 18 games and a career-low 1.44 ERA. He played in the league for 28 starts, 232 innings, 276 strikeouts, and a 0.82 percent WHIP. He also displayed exceptional control by walking just 36 batters.

Despite his achievements, Darvish was not named with the highest pitcher in Japan award, the Sawamura Award. Three members of Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles right-hander Masahiro Tanaka were elected by three members of the five-member committee. "ERA is the most reliable way to assess pitchers," Tanaka's ERA was a bit better than Darvish's. Tanaka had more complete games than Darvish." Pitchers must qualify for the award by meeting seven criteria: 15 wins, 2.50 ERA, 200 innings pitched, ten complete games, 150 strikeouts, 25 appearances, and a.600 winning percentage are among the criteria. Both Tanaka and Darvish fulfilled all of the requirements. "I only had better numbers than him," Tanaka said, "I'm nowhere near his caliber as a pitcher."

In the first round of the Pacific League playoffs, the Nippon Ham Fighters were disqualified, losing both games to the Saitama Seibu Lions. Darvish started game one of the series by going seven innings and allowing only one run on four hits, but they did not strike out nine others out on four hits. Seibu scored one run in the 9th inning to raise the game to extra innings and added three more to win the game in the 11th inning after Darvish retired.

Following being denied, rumors about Darvish being drafted to Major League Baseball have risen once more. This is certainly complicated by his pending divorce. The speculation revolved around his wife's potential right to a piece of a new deal with an American team.

Darvish was signed to Major League Baseball before the 2012 season and is currently represented by agents Don Nomura and Arn Tellem. On his blog, he announced that this post had been published. The best bids were accepted or not accepted by MLB teams from December 14th, 2011; the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters had to wait until December 20th, 2011 to reveal whether the highest bid had been accepted or rejected. The Texas Rangers' highest bid was accepted on December 19, 2011 EST, at a reported $51.7 million. Or, the Rangers would return to Japan, with Darvish, who would have 30 days to discuss. The Texas Rangers signed Darvish to a $60 million dollar deal for six years with a player option to void the last year just fifteen minutes before the 4:00 p.m. CST deadline. Darvish's CEO, Nolan Ryan, said he had more control than he did at Darvish's age.

Darvish made his first appearance in the Majors on April 9th against the Seattle Mariners in Texas. Dustin Ackley's first MLB hit was on a 2–2 80 mph curveball; Ichiro Suzuki's first MLB hit was a single into left field on a 2–2 96 mph fastball. He threw for 52 runs, giving up 8 hits, 5 runs, and 4 walks, as well as striking out five, his first MLB victory in the process. Darvish received a standing ovation from the audience at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington when Alexi Ogando came to relieve him in the 6th.

Darvish's first appearance at Target Field against the Minnesota Twins was on April 14th. He pitched for 523 innings, totaling 9 hits, 4 walks, and 2 runs (one of which was unearned) while still having 4 strikeouts. Despite the Rangers winning the game, Darvish was forced to call a no-decision. Robbie Ross, a teammate, took the lead in place.

Darvish pitched for 813 shutout innings in a game against the New York Yankees on April 24th, yielding 10 strikeouts and allowing seven hits and two walks. In the 9th, he delivered a single hit to Nick Swisher with a one out. Joe Nathan, the Rangers' closer, rescued him and induced a ground-ball double play to save Darvish's third victory. Darvish received a deafening ovation from the audience as Nathan came in. This game was also the seventh time in MLB history that the two starting pitchers were both Japanese, with Hiroki Kuroda for the Yankees on the mound. In Japan, the game was also televised.

In a game that Texas defeated 4–1, Darvish gave up his first MLB home run to Edwin Encarnación of the Toronto Blue Jays on April 30th. Darvish blasted out nine runs out of nine and giving up only one run.

Darvish was voted the AL Rookie of the Month in April for his appearances in April. Darvish went 4–0 with a 2.18 ERA and 33 strikeouts. His first defeat came against the Cleveland Indians on May 6th.

Darvish scored his first MLB hit on June 20th in an interleague match against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. He struck a bat-shattering single into shallow right field in his first at-bat. He didn't get to run the bases, but Ian Kinsler fired a line shot to the second baseman, and Darvish was tagged off of the bag to complete the double play. For the game, he was 1-for-3.

Yu Darvish for the American League and David Freese for the National League were the first two players to make the 2012 MLB All-Star Game rosters, according to the MLB. When Darvish was announced as an All-Star, he had 10 victories and five losses with a 3.59 ERA. However, Darvish didn't have a chance to pitch in the game, instead of watching from the dugout as his team lost 8–0.

Darvish bowled a perfect game against the Houston Astros on April 2nd, before tossing a slider and giving up a single to Marwin González. He threw 111 pitches, striking out 14 out of 14 and walking none. Darvish made history by becoming the first player since Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in 2002 to have 100 strikeouts by Memorial Day on May 27. Darvish was on the 15-day DL due to a strained trapezius and was brought on the All-Star roster by Matt Moore on July 10, 2013. He pitched a no-hitter against the Houston Astros for 7213 innings before giving up a home run to Carlos Corporán on August 12, 2013. In that game, Darvish set out a new high of 15, but Texas prevailed 2–1. He had 277 strikeouts in just 209+2/3 innings by the season's end. In addition,, he was fourth in the American League with a 2.83 ERA, behind Anbar Sánchez, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Bartolo Colón. Despite a pedestrian 13–9 winless record, Darvish finished second in the Cy Young polls behind Detroit Tiger Max Scherzer.

Darvish made his first appearance of the 2014 season on April 6th against the Tampa Bay Rays. He struck out David DeJesus and Wil Myers to open the game, his 500th career strikeout. Darvish was the youngest to reach 500 strikeouts in terms of innings pitched, thanks to the two strikeouts. It tied for three wickets over Kerry Wood's previous record of three innings. Darvish pitched seven shutout innings and struck out six out of six runs in the game 3–0. Darvish scored a no-hitter in the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox on May 9th before giving up a single to David Ortiz. The hit was originally ruled an error, allowing Darvish to take a no-hitter into the ninth inning before Ortiz scored a single in the ninth inning, but Major League Baseball later reversed the scoring decision, ending the no-hitter in the seventh. Darvish threw his first complete game shutout against the Miami Marlins on June 11, 2014. Darvish allowed 6 hits, 3 walks, and a field day of 10.

Yu Darvish was selected to play in the 2014 MLB All-Star Game on July 6, 2014. Darvish retired all three batters in the third innings of the All Star Game.

Darvish started experiencing pain in his right triceps during spring training. Darvish was forced to miss the entire 2015 baseball season due to an MRI. On March 17, 2015, Tommy John surgery was performed by Dr. James Andrews.

Darvish started the 2016 season on the 15-day injured list in an attempt to begin recovery from Tommy John surgery in 2015. The Rangers won 5–2 after he returned from a five-innings pitching five innings with seven strikeouts and one run allowed on three hits. Due to neck and shoulder strains, he was put on the 15-day disabled list on June 13, 2016. In an away game against the Cincinnati Reds on August 24, the first home run by a Rangers pitcher since Bobby Witt in 1997.

Darvish was enshrouded in trade rumors throughout the 2017 season, with one year left to run, and the Rangers fell further from playoff contention. Darvish will not be available for trade on July 23, according to the Rangers. However, the Rangers announced that the team will be able to trade Darvish for the "right price" two days later. Darvish batted 3+2/3 innings on July 26th, the most by a Japanese pitcher in MLB history, with a career-high ten earned runs.

The Rangers traded Darvish to the Los Angeles Dodgers for prospects Willie Calhoun, A. J. Alexy, and Brendon Davis on July 31, 2017. In nine starts for the Dodgers, he was 4–3 with a 3.44 ERA. Darvish made 31 starts in 2017, including both teams, with 209 strikeouts, 12 wild pitches (7th in the major leagues) and a 3.86 ERA.

He got off to a good start in the 2017 NLDS by getting one run in five innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks while striking out seven runs. He did well in the 2017 NLCS against the Chicago Cubs with one run in 613 innings and seven strikeouts.

He struggled to get out of the second inning in any of his two starts against the Houston Astros in the 2017 World Series. He lost both games, including game seven, and allowed nine runs (eight earned) in 313 innings while struggling to strike out a single batter. They were the first two starts of his career, and Darvish became the first starting pitcher since Art Ditmar in 1960 to have two starts of less than two innings in the World Series. Darvish had been tipping his pitches shortly after the World Series, according to an unidentified Astros player. Chase Utley, a Dodgers coworker, had evaluated Darvish's game three progress and found that it was not the truth, though Darvish changed his tactic for game seven. More than a month after, a Sports Illustrated column revealed that the Astros had figured out how Darvish was tipping his pitches: "Darvish holds the ball at his side until he receives the ball from the catcher." If he regrips or not as he opens the ball into his glove, it will reveal whether he's going to throw a slider/cutter or a fastball." This unidentified Astros fan said the Astros had heard about it going into Game 3, which they also won, but that they had a much better game plan for Game 7.

Darvish became a free agent for the first time in his career, but he decided not to re-sign with the Dodgers because so many people felt the Dodgers were chastised for his shambling World Series outings that many believed had cost the Dodgers the championship.

Darvish refused to blame begging for his poor start on Twitter and instead suggested that the 2017 Astros batters were talented, and joked on Twitter that if the Dodgers had a championship parade.

Darvish signed a six-year, $126 million contract with the Chicago Cubs on February 13, 2018. He appeared in his first game with the Miami Marlins on March 31, 2018. As the Cubs defeated 10–6 in ten innings, he allowed 5 runs in 4+13 innings. Darvish was placed on the 10-day disabled list due to the flu on May 7th. Darvish was again on the 10-day disabled list on May 26th, thanks to right triceps tendinitis. Darvish began a rehabilitation program on August 19th. Darvish summoned trainers and was booted from the game after warming up before the second inning. Darvish had a stress reaction on his right elbow as well as a triceps strain, bringing an end to his 2018 season after only 8 games and 40 innings pitched, in which he was 1–3 with a 4.95 ERA.

Darvish in 2019 was 6–8 with a 3.98 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 31 starts. He gave up 33 home runs, the second in the National League, and hit 11 batsmen, the third in the league, and tied for the third run.

Darvish went 8-3 for a 2.01 ERA in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He led the National League in victories, was second in ERA, walks per nine innings pitched (1.658), and home runs per nine innings pitched (0.927), fifth in WHIP (0.961), sixth in strikeouts per nine innings pitched (11.013).

Darvish and personal catcher Vctor Caratini were traded to the San Diego Padres in exchange for pitcher Zach Davies and four others ahead of the 2021 season on December 29, 2020. Darvish had an 8–11 record and 199 strikeouts in 166+1,3 innings in his first year with the Padres. He was also selected to his fifth All-Star squad. Darvish threw his 3,000th strike out on September 2nd, his second Japanese pitcher after Hideo Nomo.

International career

Darvish took the field in Japan's first game of the preliminary round against Cuba on August 13th, but was charged with loss after giving up four runs in four innings. Hoshino lost faith in him and scratched Darvish from the semi-finals, effectively putting Darvish and the country's fate in the tournament aside, due to circumstances that will have no bearing on Japan's fate. Darvish launched the final game of the preliminary round against the United States on August 20th, bringing the United States to a halt after the tournament had 0–1 with a 5.14 ERA (even with ten strikeouts in seven innings pitched).

Darvish started the 2009 World Baseball Classic as the de facto ace of the Japanese national team, beginning the game against China on March 5th. As Japan defeated China, he pitched four innings, allowing one walk and no hits, and striking out three runs. Nevertheless, pitching in a Major League stadium for the first time in his career, he failed in his second outing of the tournament against South Korea on March 17th, throwing five runs on four hits and a walk and ending up with three runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk and ultimately being charged with the loss. As Japan defeated 9-4, his first career save would come six days later as he pitched the final inning of the semi-finals against the United States, yielding no runs and a single wicket as he pitched out two runs.

Darvish came on in relief in the ninth inning of the championship match against South Korea, with Japan leading 3–2. He struck out his first batter, walked the next two, and then gave up a tie-out single before finishing the game with another strikeout. Nonetheless, Japan regained a 5–3 lead in the top of the inning, after giving up a leadoff walk in the middle of the inning, Darvish stricken out two out of two runs to clinch Japan's second consecutive tournament title. He finished 2–1 with a 2.08 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 13 innings in the WBC. When he worked in relief at the WBC, he ran at a career-high 99 mph.

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