Grading the Starting Rotation Performance in April

Yu Darvish

Yu Darvish’s month of April was a mixed bag. For the most part, he pitched how you would expect your ace to pitch.

His 3.54 FIP was the best among Rangers starters as was his 0.62 win probability added. In fact, his win probability added was the 23rd highest among qualified starters.

As always, Darvish’s repertoire of pitches were electric, attributing to his success and high strikeout rate. His 9.54 strikeouts per nine innings was the 25th best in baseball even though it’s the lowest rate of his career to this point.

He threw his cutter more than ever and he benefited from it. His 3.4 rating with the pitch made it the third best cutter among starting pitchers.

The biggest knock against Darvish so far has been his inefficiency. In six April starts he only made it past the sixth inning twice.

His high walk rate was to blame for his inefficiency. He took 36 batters to a three ball count, the seventh most in baseball. His 3.96 walks per nine innings has been the highest since his rookie year.

When Darvish is in the game, he’s been the ace the Rangers have been hoping for him to be since signing him in 2012. However, Darvish needs to become more efficient to be bunched with the elite of the elites.