Take Darvish’s numbers through 5 starts in 2013:

32.2 IP, 13.50 K/9, 2.76 BB/9, 0.00 HR/9, 59.0% GB, 1.20 FIP and a 1.96 xFIP

Obviously the walks are down and Darvish is also being rather selfish in the home run and ground ball departments. But do yourself a favor and just take a look and admire the PITCHf/x data from Darvish’s most recent start against the Angels, courtesy of FanGraphs (link).

Also, I’m sure you’ve already seen this amazing GIF, courtesy of LSB regular DShep:

As evidenced by PITCHf/x data and this amazing GIF, Yu Darvish has a nearly identical release point for all of his pitches. Unsurprisingly, Darvish again displayed a huge gaps in velocity, going from a 61 mph ephus curveball to a 97 mph tailing fastball in one AB, not to mention a widely concluded 80-grade slider in his back pocket.

Yu Darvish isn’t bothered by ballpark affects—his stuff negates such things. Yu Darvish isn’t bothered by in-game situations—he’s the same pitcher with no baserunners on as he is with the bases loaded. Yu Darvish isn’t the pitcher that reminded a scout of Daisuke Matsuzaka after his first two MLB starts—Darvish is a true ace.

Darvish aces the analysis of scouts, he aces the scrutiny of advanced metrics.

Darvish is already everything and more than what the Rangers expected.

$51,703,411

That’s a beautiful number, isn’t it? Perhaps a more beautiful one exists in the number 1—the number of firsts.

Darvish stands a strong chance to be the Rangers’ first ever Cy Young award winner but more importantly, Darvish stands a chance to be the ace on the Rangers’ first ever World Series Champion team. After all, isn’t everything a matter of chance?

A man can dream, can’t he? But boy, Darvish makes dreaming rather easy.

The long-awaited announcement on when Darvish will come to the Major Leagues was made last night, when Darvish stated that he would be posted on Thursday. The Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays are expected to be very aggressive with their bids for the right to talk to Darvish, though several other clubs will likely be in on the bidding as well.

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