
Yu Darvish makes his Dodger debut this afternoon in New York against the Mets, because of course he does. He could have started in Atlanta, but where’s the fun in that? Probably for the best since Atlanta seems to be about the only team that can hang with the Dodgers these days.
The veteran has been one of baseball’s filthiest pitchers since he came over from Japan six years ago. As a Dodger-focused blog and with a Dodger-focused audience, it’s possible folks haven’t seen much of Darvish. So, I’m bringing you these GIFs to show you what to expect from Mr. Darvish for the next three months.
Before we get there, let’s run down his arsenal. Velocity and pitch value (via FanGraphs) is for 2017:
Fastball
Average Velo: 94.71 MPH
Max Velo: 98.96 MPH
Usage: 35.21%
Pitch Value: -1.0
Sinker
Average Velo: 94.71 MPH
Max Velo: 98.96 MPH
Usage: 17.21%
Pitch Value: N/A
Curveball
Average Velo: 73.68 MPH
Max Velo: 80.49 MPH
Usage: 4.02%
Pitch Value: -0.3
Slider
Average Velo: 82.81 MPH
Max Velo: 87.54 MPH
Usage: 24.93%
Pitch Value: 7.3
Cutter
Average Velo: 89.01 MPH
Max Velo: 98.96 MPH
Usage: 14.89%
Pitch Value: 4.7
Changeup
Average Velo: 88.30 MPH
Max Velo: 91.14 MPH
Usage: 1.78%
Pitch Value: 0.1
Splitter
Average Velo: 87.97 MPH
Max Velo: 91.91 MPH
Usage: 0.59%
Pitch Value: 0.0
Aside from the curveball, everything Darvish throws is hard. Now, onto the real reason you’re here: The GIFs! Thanks to the awesome The Pitcher List and its accompanying Twitter account @ThePitcherList for (most of) the collection.
Fastball
Yu Darvish spots 97mph on the black + The Nastiest Pitching GIFs From Thursday's Games https://t.co/cK5ng5StEl pic.twitter.com/k3FNRJd9kz
— Pitcher List (@ThePitcherList) April 14, 2017
Slider
Yu Darvish's Slider changes direction at the last moment pic.twitter.com/cLZdMY9K0w
— Pitcher List (@ThePitcherList) May 1, 2017
From another game/camera angle:
Yu Darvish's Slider got a ton of horizontal bend in Houston yesterday pic.twitter.com/JHPNgWSuPd
— Pitcher List (@ThePitcherList) June 13, 2017
And one more that’s just, lol.
Yu Darvish's Slider completely disappeared on Ezequiel Carrera pic.twitter.com/uyZq5Lkb1X
— Pitcher List (@ThePitcherList) May 29, 2017
Curveball
Yu Darvish's Curveball falls for days pic.twitter.com/0FqIidy3j4
— Pitcher List (@ThePitcherList) May 17, 2017
I've watched this Yu Darvish Curveball GIF more times than I can count.
It's just so…elegant. pic.twitter.com/pC4s56s391
— Pitcher List (@ThePitcherList) May 11, 2017
He even has an eephus pitch!
GIF: Yu Darvish throws the Eephus, this is just silly http://t.co/ftjnKQF2Se
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) May 17, 2014
And then there’s this cool-ass GIF from four years ago:
Also, here's a Yu Darvish GIF to last you until his May return. pic.twitter.com/L2m1EmE0rN
— Asher Feltman (49) (@AsherFeltman) January 18, 2016
That release point, though.
Finally, he can hit.
Well, he’s 3-for-14 with a double and that home run, so I guess the jury’s still out on that.
——
Dodgers got a good one here, folks. It’s gonna be a fun three months.