ARLINGTON, Texas—Anytime a game is delayed for one hour, it typically means the end of the workday for a starting pitcher. To rev up the arm again after such a long cooling period could lead to injury. So why did the Rangers allow their $107 million investment, Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish, to return Friday night after a rain delay that lasted nearly two hours?
Because he would have it no other way. ”He wasn’t going to be denied to do his job,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said Saturday morning. “He made it quite clear. Believe me, we had quite a few minds in here going over that stuff, but the guy was ridiculously adamant about taking the ball. You could tell the way he was talking, he was pitching.”
Darvish ended up with his shortest outing in seven big-league starts, allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings while throwing a season-low 93 pitches. But as Angels manager Mike Scioscia pointed out, Darvish “probably threw three innings underneath trying to stay sharp, stay loose.”
With Josh Hamilton hitting his seventh and eighth homers of the week, Darvish had little difficulty securing his fifth win to go with a 2.84 ERA and a strikeout rate of 10.9 per nine innings. But in this 10-3 laugher, the 25-year-old right-hander scored bigger in the clubhouse than on the field.
“(He showed) that he has heart, that he is a winner, that he is for real,” Washington said. “Normally, you don’t see a pitcher sit that long and come back. Darvish was adamant. He didn’t come here, he said, not to pitch. So he pitched.”
Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, “Dice K,” is scheduled to make a rehab start for the Portland Sea Dogs on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Hadlock Field when the Sea Dogs take on the Reading Phillies, the Sea Dogs reported yesterday.
The 31-year-old Matsuzaka was placed on the disabled list on May 18, 2011 and underwent successful Tommy John surgery on June 10, 2011 to reconstruct a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm. He made his first rehab start with Single-A Salem on Monday, April 23 where he allowed three runs on six hits in four innings of work.
In six seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Matsuzaka has notched a 49-30 career record with a 4.25 ERA. His best season came in 2008 when he went 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA. Prior to joining the Red Sox he had an eight-year career with the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball where he was 108-60 with a 2.95 ERA. He was the MVP of the World Baseball Classic in both 2006 and 2009.
Although this will be Matsuzaka’s first time at Hadlock Field, it will not be his first time in a Sea Dogs uniform. Matsuzaka previously made a rehab appearance with the Sea Dogs on Aug. 30, 2009 when the Sea Dogs were on the road in Manchester, N.H., taking on the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
Left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada, who has not yet thrown a pitch for the Orioles, had an MRA on his ailing left elbow Tuesday and it showed ligament damage, according to manager Buck Showalter.
“Wada has an elbow issue, problems with the ligament, the MRA showed. We will contemplate, along with him, what the next direction (is) to take,” Showalter said. “But it showed some damage in there with the ligament that didn’t show up in the physical he took when he signed.”
Showalter would not go into specifics, but it can be assumed that Wada has at least a partial tear in the ligament. If that is the case, he could require rest and rehab or surgery – but either way he is likely to be shelved for an elongated period
There were a couple of different options I could’ve gone with this, but there is nothing better than reaching your first MLB milestone, so I went with Hisashi Iwakuma‘s first batter of the season.
With the game already out of hand, having been that way since the second inning, Mariners manager Eric Wedge decided to finally give Iwukuma a chance to pitch here in game 15 against the Chicago White Sox. Wedge had later said that he wanted Iwukuma’s debut to be a fresh inning, so he wasn’t brought in under any pressure, and this was the perfect moment I believe.
There is never any pressure when you are already down by five runs late in a ball game. It’s just mop up work, and a get your pitches in type of situation. Regardless, Iwukuma shined in his MLB debut, that’s for sure. After his warm-up tosses, it was time for Iwukuma to finally go to work. His first major league batter he faced was Alex Rios, not the easiest out by any means. Eric Wedge decided to finally give Iwukuma a chance to pitch.
First pitch was a fast ball taken high, maybe his jitters were getting the best of him, or maybe he was trying to get Rios to pop up. Judging by what happened next, I think it was the latter.
A monumental pop-up. So his first major league pitch was a ball, so what. Iwukuma was back on the mound and ready for pitch number two. Though you can’t see the pitch from this video, there is still a really good zoom in on Iwukuma’s fingers on the ball before the pitch. Not something you get to see every day.
Anyways, pitch two, and another fast ball up. He gets Rios to pop-up about three feet in front of home plate. This ball was skied though, giving enough time for just about every player on the field to grab fly ball. Jesus Montero waved off both first and third basemen to make the play. A nice way to start a big league career, a two pitch pop-up right in front of home plate.
My guess is another outing like the one that Hector Noesi had on Friday night, and Hisashi Iwukuma will be in the starting rotation. He pitched extremely well in his debut, and yes long relief is an important part of the bullpen, but not nearly as important as a good starter, and this is why I think that by May, Iwukuma will be in the rotation.
With a brilliant blue sky as the backdrop, Friday was the perfect day at Yankee Stadium — unless you were the Angels, that is. Jorge Posada made an emotional return in the Bombers’ home opener, Hiroki Kuroda twirled eight-plus scoreless innings in his Bronx debut and Alex Rodriguez made some personal history, moving into a tie for fifth place on the all-time home run list. All of it added up to a 5-0 Yankees victory, giving the sellout crowd of 49,386 a day to remember.
“It was just amazing,” said Nick Swisher, whose three-run double in the first inning set the tone. “You could just feel the electricity. Nobody does it like Yankee Stadium.” “Opening Day, you want to win, first and foremost, but we played well,” Derek Jeter said. “Hiro did an outstanding job against a team that puts a lot of pressure on defenses and swings the bats. He’s the story of the game. He shut down a very good team.”
Kuroda looked like a different pitcher than the one who allowed six runs in 5.2 innings against the Rays last weekend, blanking the Angels over eight-plus innings. Kuroda allowed only five hits and walked two, striking out six as he collected his first win in pinstripes. “Since my last outing wasn’t really good, I wanted to do a much better job today,” Kuroda said through a translator. “I’m glad that I was able to do that today.”
VIERA, Fla. — Washington Nationals pitcher Chien-Ming Wang left Thursday’s start in the third inning with a strained left hamstring after colliding with Russell Martin of the New York Yankees. The right-hander fielded a slow roller by Martin and tried to make the play at first base. Wang stumbled toward the bag and fell as he was touching the base. The pitcher’s leg went up in the air and was hit by Martin, who was running up the line.
Wang walked off the field under his own power. ”Hopefully, it’s not serious,” Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. “(Wang) was having a great spring, trying to come back to what he was. So you hate to see something like that.
“He was having a great outing. He was throwing the heck out of the ball. He was pitching at 90-91 (miles per hour), and he hit 93. He was just outstanding.” Johnson said the team was awaiting test results on Wang but said he wasn’t certain what type of tests he was undergoing. Wang spent five years with the Yankees and won 19 games in 2006 and 2007
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Daisuke Matsuzaka continues to impress the Red Sox in his comeback from Tommy John surgery, and there’s no reason to think he can’t rejoin the club by around midseason, perhaps even a little earlier.
The right-hander reeled off a 40-pitch bullpen session on Saturday under the…
There are many Asians in this years’ 2012 MLB team rosters. More than half of these players expected to make it onto the regular season roster. Take a look at the list,
SAN FRANCISCO — Giants ace Tim Lincecum’s new $40.5 million, two-year deal includes a series of bonuses for winning the Cy Young and other awards. Lincecum and San Francisco reached verbal agreement on a new contract Tuesday pending a physical, which likely will happen early next week before a formal announcement is made by the club.
Lincecum, a two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, gets a $500,000 signing bonus and salaries of $18 million this year and $22 million in 2013.
Lincecum — the 10th overall draft pick out of Washington in 2006 — has been an All-Star in each of the past four seasons. He went 13-14 with a 2.74 ERA last year for his first losing record. The Giants scored no runs while he was in the game in seven of 33 starts, had one run six times and two runs five times, according to STATS LLC.
During a San Francisco press conference last year, Lincecum acknowledged the huge Filipino following that he enjoys. In fact, because of Lincecum, there is a Filipino Heritage Night every season at AT&T Park. According to Lincecum, whose mother Rebecca Asis is the daughter of Filipino immigrants, “You know, I’m a Filipino. I have Filipino heritage in me. As far as the diversity of the city goes, it’s up there. It’s just great. I think the game is just getting followed more and more worldwide. To find that in your own city, to find that same kind of following it’s good.”, referring to the Filipino fans.
Yu Darvish has arrived to the United States. The Texas Rangers introduced recently-signed Japanese pitching sensation Yu Darvish who discussed his upcoming transition to playing in the majors. He says he wants to be more Americanized.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Japanese ace Yu Darvish will be pitching in a Texas Rangers uniform in 2012, agreeing to a six-year deal worth approximately $60 million on Wednesday.
Darvish agreed to the deal, which according to a source includes $56 million guaranteed, just before Wednesday’s 5 p.m. ET deadline. The agreement comes 30 days after the Rangers won the right to negotiate with Darvish and his representatives, Don Nomura and Arn Tellem, by submitting a record $51.7 million posting bid.
The club will now send the Nippon-Ham Fighters that payment and Darvish will come to the United States to pitch in the big leagues for the first time.”He’s really thrilled to be coming here,” Tellem said. “This is where he wanted to be.” Darvish, who is still in Japan, will be in Arlington on Friday for a news conference.
Including the posting fee, the Rangers paid more than $111 million to sign Darvish, which is more than the $103 million that the Boston Red Sox gave up to negotiate with and sign Daisuke Matsuzaka.
“We saw a guy that we felt was built to pitch innings and has a classic pitcher’s build,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. “He has a real commitment to his conditioning and work ethic. We think he can pitch innings at a high caliber for a large amount of time.”
The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Darvish pitched in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was 18 when he began his pro career and, after an average rookie season, was 12-5 with a 2.89 ERA and 115 strikeouts in his second season (2006). He’s been consistent since, going 93-38 with a 1.99 ERA in his career in Japan.
The Rangers believe he will be a critical upper-rotation starter for years to come and will do so as he hits what should be the prime of his career. It’s an important addition for a Rangers staff that does not have a true No. 1 after C.J. Wilson left to sign a five-year, $77.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels in December.
It’s unclear where Darvish will slot in the Rangers’ rotation when the season starts, but manager Ron Washington has already said that veteran Colby Lewis will start Opening Day. The rest of the rotation will be decided during spring training. The first three games of the season are against the Chicago White Sox, followed by three at home against the Seattle Mariners — and Ichiro Suzuki.
“We’re not going to spring training with these great expectations that he’s going to shine over everybody else,” Rangers CEO Nolan Ryan said. “We want him to come in and fit in and make the adjustment of being over here, being in major league baseball for the first time. As we go through spring training and the early part of the season, he’ll start showing what he’s capable of doing.”
But when asked if Darvish was an ace, Ryan said: “I think he certainly has the potential to be.” ”It’s not fair of me to say that I see him as our No. 1, but I certainly think he has the potential,” Ryan said. “He’s very unique.”
The Rangers’ interest in Darvish dates back a few years. They had a scout at nearly every one of his starts in 2011, and Daniels watched him in person last summer. The club has increased its Pacific Rim operations in recent years, with Lewis as its biggest success story.
“The Rangers, more so than any other team, showed not only great interest in scouting him, but spent a lot of personal time developing a relationship with him over the last couple of years through scouts that visited him in Japan,” Tellem said. “There was an instant connection between Yu and his family with the Ranger organization.”
Darvish visited Texas for the first time earlier this month to get a feel for the place. He took a tour of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, watched a special video the club put together for him that included some of his pitching highlights, clips of the Rangers’ postseason runs and messages from Josh Hamilton and Ryan, among others. Darvish also met several players, including Hamilton and Ian Kinsler, and talked with Ryan and Rangers manager Ron Washington. He also had dinner with pitching coach Mike Maddux.
“The biggest impression I got, or the most surprising thing that I saw, was how big he is,” said Maddux, echoing the sentiments of Hamilton, Kinsler and Ryan. “He’s big.” The big question for Darvish is whether, unlike some of the recent Japanese pitchers who have posted in the past, his stuff can translate to the big league level. The Rangers’ scouts believe they will and so does Lewis, who beat Darvish in 2008 when Lewis was pitching in Japan.
“If you’re able to throw strikes, pound the strike zone and get guys out, it doesn’t matter what league you play in,” Lewis said last week. “If you can command the fastball and do what you need to do to get guys out, you can have success here too. He has overpowering stuff, especially in that league over there. The big thing that stood out to me was his fastball command. If he can do that here, he’ll have success.”
The Kardashians will have to say 'good bye' to former Dodger
The New York Yankees made a major push to bolster their starting rotation Friday, agreeing to terms with former Dodgers right-hander Hiroki Kuroda on a $10-million, one-year contract shortly after acquiring right-hander Michael Pineda from the Seattle Mariners.
A person familiar with Kuroda’s signing told the Associated Press the deal is contingent on the 36-year-old passing a physical. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the signing has not been announced. Hiroki Kuroda was 13-16 with a 3.07 earned-run average for the Dodgers last season.
The Orioles have agreed to terms on a multiyear deal with left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, according to a baseball source. Chen is expected to take a physical before the signing becomes official.
Chen, 26, spent the last four years with the Chunichi Dragons of the Japan Central League. In those four years, Chen went 38-30 with a 2.48 ERA in 117 games (88 starts). This past season, Chen made 25 appearances for the Dragons and had a 2.68 ERA.
The Orioles have agreed to terms with Japanese lefty starter Tsuyoshi Wada, which reopens their pipeline to Japan, according to an industry source. He will sign a two-year, $8.15 million deal with a 2014 option worth $5 million, the source said. It is the Orioles’ first foray into the Japanese market since signing Koji Uehara before the 2009 season.
Wada may not end up as the only pitcher from Japan’s Nippon Baseball League on the roster. The club is also seriously interested in Taiwanese lefty Chen Wei-Yin, who pitched for the Chunichi Dragons. It would be unprecedented if the Orioles could land both – and perhaps a bit of a long shot considering multiple major league teams have inquired about each pitcher.
The push into the Asian market comes on the heels of news out of Korea that South Korean submariner Chong Tae-Hyon will not be joining the Orioles and instead has signed a four-year, $3.1 million deal to stay in the Korean Baseball Organization. The Orioles had offered a two-year, $3.1 million deal and had Chong in for a physical.
Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette never confirmed that Chong passed his physical, saying only that the veteran right-hander was weighing another option in Korea.
The club’s attention, however, has turned to Japan and specifically Tsuyoshi Wada, who according to several sites will turn 31 in February. A soft-tossing strike thrower often compared to former Oriole Jamie Moyer, Wada pitched for Japan in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and the country’s World Baseball Classic team in 2006 that won the inaugural title. Listed at 5 feet 10, 170 pounds, Wada consistently throws his fastball in the mid-to-high 80s, but he survives on a deceptive, three-quarters delivery and the ability to throw several pitches for strikes. He also misses bats, earning him the nickname “Dr. K of Tokyo” while in college. Throughout his career, he has maintained a 3-to-1 strikeout rate or better. Last year he was 16-5 with a 1.53 ERA in 184 2/3 innings with the Hawks. He struck out 168 batters and walked 40. He became a free agent in November and did not need to be posted.
Chen, 26, also did not need to be posted because, as a Taiwan native, his length of contract in the NPB was negotiated when he signed. His fastball reaches in the low-to-mid 90s. He was 8-10 with a 2.68 ERA in 24 starts with the Chunichi Dragons while battling injuries.
