Yu Darvish MLB Debut: 5 Keys to Japanese Phenom Living Up to the Hype

The Fugees were a phenomenon—a collective of three incredibly talented singers and rappers whose styles and voices came together seamlessly on what was one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever produced, 1996's The Score.

Yu Darvish is a phenomenon in his own right, a 24-year-old Japanese flamethrower who the Texas Rangers spent over $100 million on to bring to the major leagues. Now, after spending Spring Training not only refining his game, but acclimating to life in a new country where a completely different language is spoken and trying to bond with his teammates, Darvish is ready.

Darvish will take the mound this evening for the Rangers as they get set to open a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners, a team who boasts the most successful Japanese player to ever play in the United States in the form of Ichiro Suzuki.

Coincidence? I think not.

As the Fugees did on the third track of their sophomore album, aptly titled "Ready or Not,"  Darvish's start tonight will serve as a warning to the rest of baseball: "Ready or not, here I come, you can't hide."

Lets take a look at what Darvish will need to do not only tonight, but going forward, to ensure that he doesn't become just another statistic of Japanese pitchers who struggle to perform when they make the transition from Japan to the major leagues.

Keep His Nerves in Check

It's going to be a packed house at the Ballpark in Arlington tonight, and the excitement and electricity in the air is going to make it feel like a playoff game.

Without question, Yu Darvish will be nervous before he steps on the mound, and he's likely to become more nervous as the minutes pass before the nerves reach their peak just before he's ready to deliver his first official major league pitch.

Rangers manager Ron Washington told Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com that anyone who expects less than that is only fooling themselves:

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"He's only human. It's his first game at the major league level. He'll probably have some butterflies just like everyone else had their first time out there. I thought he did the settling down part as spring training moved along.

This guy has pitched in big games before. I don't care if it's been in Japan or not. He's only human. He'll have some jitters. I just want him to go out and do what (Derek) Holland and (Colby) Lewis did and that's keep us in the ballgame."

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Keeping the Rangers in the ballgame is likely not good enough for the phenom—during spring training, he has come across as someone who is never satisfied, always believing that there is room for improvement.

Couple that with the influx of media, both from Japan and the United States, along with the knowledge that all of Japan will be watching his every pitch with baited breath as they sit down to eat breakfast, and it's a lot for anyone to handle.

Darvish needs to keep his cool tonight and not let the highs get him too high—or the lows get him too low.

It's a delicate balance, but one that Washington, Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux and catcher Mike Napoli will work with Darvish to maintain.

Don't Let Ichiro Get in His Head

Ichiro Suzuki is unquestionably the best player to make the transition from the Pacific League in Japan to the major leagues. A likely inductee into the Hall of Fame once his career is over, Ichiro was the first batter that Daisuke Matsuzaka faced when he made his official debut for the Boston Red Sox back in 2007.

Leading up to that game, Ichiro had faced the man known as "Dice-K" previously, hitting .235 with a home run, four RBI, a walk, a sacrifice fly and four strikeouts over 36 at-bats. Three of the four strikeouts came in the first game that they faced each other.

In speaking with Brad Lefton of the Seattle Times prior to his first game against Matsuzaka in the major leagues, Ichiro gave what many consider to be the most sincere quote he's ever given as a member of the Mariners: "I hope he arouses the fire that's dormant in the innermost recesses of my soul. I plan to face him with the zeal of a challenger."

According to Greg Johns of MLB.com, Ichiro and Darvish have only faced each other twice: in a practice game leading up to the 2006 World Baseball Classic, where Ichiro singled, and during live batting practice for the 2009 World Baseball Classic, where Ichiro grounded out.

To Darvish's credit, he seems to have put Ichiro in the proper place, according to Johns:

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"He's a great baseball player in Japan, and the United States, and I'll be looking forward to it and enjoy facing him. But I can't really talk about enjoyment. I have to think about ways to get him out. And I would like to go after him and try to get him out."

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When he gets to the third batter in Seattle's lineup, he'll have his chance.

Stick with What Works

As with Daisuke Matsuzaka before him, Darvish has a multitude of pitches in his repertoire, including four different variations of a fastball—a four-seam, a two-seam, one that cuts and one that sinks.

USA Today's Paul White says that Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux believes that Darvish's two-seam fastball is the pitch that will work best against major league hitters, so Seattle can expect a heavy dose of the pitch this evening.

But Darvish will work in his other pitches as well, keeping hitters off-balance as they try to figure out what's coming next.

After his last spring training outing against the Colorado Rockies, a game in which he struck out 11 batters over six innings of work, Rockies All-Star Carlos Gonzalez, who fell victim to the strikeout three times, spoke of how difficult it was to face Darvish: " He threw me six different pitches my first two at-bats."

Mike Maddux and Mike Napoli will make sure to take note of what's working for Yu tonight and encourage him to stick with it. Whatever pitches they feel like Darvish has the most command over will likely be his go-to pitches throughout the game.

Commanding his pitches will enable Darvish to paint corners, and in turn, miss bats.

Learn to Pitch in the Heat

Yu Darvish spent most of his career pitching in the Sapporo Dome, a climate-controlled facility. Rarely did he ever have to deal with uncomfortable weather conditions, with the lone exception being when he would travel to Osaka to take on the Hanshin Tigers, who played in an outdoor stadium.

The average August temperature in Osaka is 91.7 degrees.

Last season alone, the Rangers took the field in Arlington with a first pitch temperature of at least 95 degrees on 42 different occasions.

That's a big difference in pitching conditions, though Darvish tells Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News that he's not overly concerned: “I have not experienced it, but I think I can think of ways to get over it. It’ll take some time to get used to, but I’ll make adjustments.”

The heat tonight shouldn't be much of a factor—game time temperature is supposed to be in the mid-70's, according to the Weather Channel.

Going forward, this will be something that Darvish will need to learn to adapt to—otherwise he could find himself ineffective as the season wears on.

Remember, Yu Have to Be Yu

Yu Darvish is expected to perform well each and every time that he steps on the field—an expectation that is not foreign to anyone else who plays major league baseball.

For Darvish the pressure is two-fold: not only is he pitching to justify the lucrative contract bestowed upon him by the Texas Rangers, but he is also pitching to put an end to the overriding perception that Japanese pitchers cannot succeed in the major leagues.

Hideo Nomo, Hideki Irabu, Daisuke Matsuzaka—all of them had some level of success during their major league careers before ultimately flaming out.

Darvish wants to show that he is different.

Could he win the American League Rookie of the Year award this season? B/R's experts think he has a fighting chance.

Could he enter the discussion for the American League Cy Young award this season? Perhaps.

In the future? He's got the talent to do so.

At the end of the day, his biggest obstacle will be himself. Darvish needs to remain grounded while enjoying the fruits of his labor. All too often we've seen professional athletes make big splashes only to fade away shortly after debuting.

As he becomes more comfortable with his surroundings, the quality of his starts will increase as well, and with that, the confidence that he had facing batters in the Pacific League will begin to come through more and more, making him even more effective.

Years ago, Roger Daltrey and The Who asked us a simple question: "Who Are You?"

The answer is simple: Yu Yu, Yu, Yu.