Rangers Pitcher Yu Darvish gets going at last
SURPRISE, Ariz. — The Texas Rangers would love to hear Yu Darvish’s best go at “y’all.”
“Some Texas twang, any type of slang,” said fellow starter Colby Lewis, who spent time pitching in Japan in the opposite division as Darvish. “He’ll have fun. It’s going to be good.”
Give him a little time, gang. Darvish most certainly would prefer to show off his powerful arm and remarkable athletic abilities before he delves into learning the lingo of the Lone Star State or belting out “Deep in the Heart of Texas.”
Darvish, with his shaggy, orange-tinted hair, pulled a blue long-sleeved Rangers workout shirt over his head Thursday and chatted up teammate Justin Miller as nearly everybody in the clubhouse eagerly watched. At 6-foot-5, he’s quite a presence even before considering that the Rangers spent more than $107 million this winter to land him.
Texas will be dealing with some “Yusanity” this season.
“I guess this comes with success and all that,” manager Ron Washington said Thursday, before taking the field to watch Darvish himself. “People are interested in the Texas Rangers so I guess we just have to deal with it.”
The team’s prize offseason pickup looked plenty comfortable in his new surroundings on Day 1 for pitchers and catchers at Surprise Stadium, where dozens of Japanese reporters arrived early to record the right-hander’s every move.
Texas personnel provided a detailed schedule for the star Japanese pitcher’s highly anticipated first day: from when and where he would stretch and warm up to his first fundamental drill and then his initial bullpen session.
“I’m just excited to get the chance to see him pitch for the first time aside from the footage on ESPN,” new Rangers reliever Joe Nathan said. “His work ethic seems to be outstanding. We had a chance to talk yesterday. He enjoys getting in the weight room as much as he enjoys pitching. That will help him pitch a long time and he should adjust a lot quicker.”
The two-time reigning AL champion Rangers don’t envision communication problems with the 25-year-old Darvish, and Washington has no plans to learn Japanese — for one, he doesn’t see it fitting it into his already hectic spring schedule.
“I don’t want to trash the language,” Washington quipped. “I’ll use my universal baseball language. I trash the English language.”
Washington won’t say what day Darvish will first pitch in Cactus League action or guess how many wins he will earn as a rookie. There will be huge expectations given he signed a $56 million, six-year contract and the Rangers paid his Japanese club $51.7 million just to have the chance to acquire him.
“I think we’re all excited about seeing him throw, watching him do his work,” Rangers president and CEO Nolan Ryan said. “I think watching video on him I have an expectation of what he’s going to be like, so I don’t think it’s going to be really much different from what I’ve seen in the videos of him. But, you know, just seeing his delivery, watching him from different angles and that kind of stuff. Obviously everybody that’s been involved in this process is anxious to see that.”