Japanese pitcher Darvish Yu (37) of the San Diego Padres breaks the Asian record for the most wins held by Park Chan-ho.
San Diego announced on the 10th (Korean time) that it had agreed to a contract with Darvish for 6 years until 2028 worth 108 million dollars (approximately 136 billion won). 메이저사이트
Darvish, who announced that he would retire at the end of the 2023 season, will live an active life until the age of 42.
Darvish has made it clear that he is against playing baseball for many years. In an interview with Japanese media in 2019, he argued that “he doesn’t have much time in his life, so he shouldn’t play baseball for a long time.”
However, Darvish posted excellent results last year. He went 16-8 with a 3.10 earned run average in 30 starts. He also became the winning pitcher in six consecutive games at the end of the season, and recorded a whopping 25 quality starts.
Last year, he tied for 3rd in the National League, 7th in strikeouts (197), and 11th in ERA, showing the highest level of pitching ability in the major leagues.
It was the first double-digit win in five years since he won 10 in 2017, and tied the record for the most individual wins since his major league debut.
Darvish still throws a 96-97 mph fastball and throws more than 10 different types of pitches, including cut fastballs, sliders, splitters and curveballs. His good control and aggressive pitching style result in few walks. His WHIP (on-base percentage per inning) last year was 0.95. This was the lowest figure since his debut.
San Diego, which judged that Darvish’s pitch would still work in the major leagues for several years, signed a contract for life. He felt that a high-level starting pitcher like Darvish was needed to achieve results beyond advancing to the postseason. Even so, there is a view that such a bold investment in a 37-year-old pitcher is somewhat questionable.
Darvish said through his social network service (SNS), “I have signed a new contract with San Diego. I want to express my gratitude to the fans, club and colleagues.”
Darvish, who recorded 95 victories in his big league career, will surpass Park Chan-ho’s record of most victories (124 wins) by an Asian pitcher if he adds 30 more victories in the future.
Darvish has 12 wins left in his 200 wins in the US and Japan.
Meanwhile, Park Chan-ho, who had 120 wins until 2009, left the major leagues after dramatically recording 4 wins in 2010, surpassing Japanese pitcher Hideo Nomo (123 wins). After that, Park Chan-ho, who went through Nippon Professional Baseball and KBO League, retired in 2012.