Texas Rangers: Yu Darvish Solid in First Spring Training Start

Yu Darvish was impressive in his first start in Texas Rangers blue, striking out three over two innings Wednesday afternoon in Peoria, Ariz. Darvish showed at least five of his seven pitches and faced eight San Diego Padres before his scheduled day was finished.

After striking out Cameron Maybin to begin the game, Darvish allowed a double to Orlando Hudson before retiring the final two batters on a fly out and strikeout to end the frame.

He then gave up a long double to Will Venable to start the second inning—one that probably would have been a home run at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

But, Darvish fought back, getting Mark Kotsay to ground out and move the runner to third. He then caught Venable in a rundown after snagging a bouncing chopper from James Darnell, using every bit of his 6'5" frame to leap up, check the runner and fire home to catch Darnell too far down the line.

Although Darvish only threw 36 pitches, 26 went for strikes and he never went past two balls on any Padres hitter. Two of his strikeouts were also on good breaking balls, including one to a very established hitter in offseason addition Carlos Quentin.

If he was nervous he didn't show it, in front of more than 200 fans in the stands and several members of Japanese media outlets present to document his first pitches in America.

Darvish can definitely do a better job of locating his fastball, as the two doubles he allowed came on two-strike pitches that darted back and caught too much plate. In Japan, hitters don't take his mistakes 400 feet, but he will learn very quickly that fastball location is the name of the game here.

Here is a video of the highlights from his first two innings.

Overall, it was a solid showing for the Japanese ace-in-training. Two things to watch in his next start: pitch count, since he will likely pitch three-plus innings, and the continued use of more than four pitches while catchers and Mike Maddux figure out what gets MLB hitters out.