(670 The Score) Right-hander Yu Darvish produced one of his best outings of the season Wednesday, striking out 11 and walking none in 5 1/3 innings while allowing two runs and scattering five hits in his team's eventual 10-inning loss to the Reds.
It was the Darvish whom the Cubs imagined when signing him to a six-year, $126-million deal in February 2018, and it's one that pitching coach Tommy Hottovy hopes can be a springboard for him.
"You can just see the silly things he can make the baseball do and how silly he can make hitters look at times," Hottovy said on the Mully & Haugh Show on Thursday morning. "To have a game like that where he's attacking the strike zone and still using all his pitches and being aggressive and getting ahead of hitters early, I think that's key for him. And staying focused and staying in that attacking, aggressive mindset with all of your pitches.
Darvish is 2-3 with a 5.14 ERA and 1.62 WHIP in nine starts. One of his biggest troubles has been his command, as he has issued an MLB-worst 33 walks in 42 innings.
On Wednesday, Hottovy was pleased with how Darvish attacked the strike zone, even if it wasn't in the traditional manner.
"You know, so many pitchers and so many people think aggressive means throwing your fastball for strikes, and that's not always the case for every pitcher," Hottovy said. "For a guy like Yu Darvish, he might be aggressive throwing his cutter for strikes, his slider. I think you saw a good version of him last night, and we have to continue to build off of that and continue to work on the things we feel like he needs to be successful moving forward."
