Will Darvish has similar success to Hideki Matsui? Or will he simply be the next Dice-K. |
Yu Darvish officially became the next big Japanese signee once the Rangers inked him to a 6 year, 60 million dollar contract. Darvish is undoubtedly talented, but the question still remains, will he be another Japanese bust or will he breakthrough the MLB barrier that has sent some many Japanese studs back home?
Over the last few years we've seen sweepstakes for prominent Japanese players end up in complete disaster. Kaz Matsui was the first of a wave of Japanese ball players that were tabbed as "the next best thing," but never materialized. Matsui hit a home run on his first at bat as a Met and it all when downhill form there. Following him was Hideki Okajima, who actually had has some success, but has remained extremely inconsistent.Daisuke Matsuzaka was the next hyped up Japanese pitcher and his sweepstakes probably received the most attention in the history of the Japan-USA baseball connection. Dice-K was heralded as a revolutionary pitcher with a unique release and a magical gyroball. The gyroball received excessive attention, claiming to be absolutely unhittable. Matsuzaka had a phenomenal first two years, including an amazing 2008 in which he went 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA. But injuries and batters' adaptation to his wild pitching style have led people to reign in their claims about him being the best Japanese pitcher to ever play in the US. The latest big time Japanese signee was Kosuke Fukudome who was supposed to be a 5-tool player that could hit for both power and contact. But Fukudome hasn't been able to crack the .275 batting average benchmark, hasn't been a great fielder, and has simply been a grade A bust.
The shining light for Darvish is Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki who have been able to sustain solid careers(in Ichiro's case an amazing career) in the major leagues. Matsui's career is probably the most impressive considering the fact that he came to the United States being proclaimed as the Japanese Barry Bonds. Both Matsui and Ichiro are incredible talents, naturally born to hit a baseball no matter what league they play in. Then again, both players are unfortunately not pitchers.
That doesn't bode well for Yu Darvish, who is being hyped exactly like Dice-K was. Darvish is a lanky 6'5" flamethrower whose long arms allow him to release the ball closer to the plate. He's a unique talent just like Matsuzaka was, no question about it. But the transition from the Japanese leagues to the MLB is like going from living in Little Rock Arkansas to living in New York; get caught watching and you'll be gone. If Darvish can't transition quickly then expect the pressure of the contract to build on him and potentially end his career early.
The Rangers took a chance on Darvish and I say good for them. But Nolan Ryan must be prepared to eat that contract up if Yu pulls a Ryan Leaf and goes off the deep end.
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