The Data Behind Yu Darvish's Brief But Devastating Debut

Texas Rangers hurler Yu Darvish made quite the spring training debut today against the San Diego Padres. (Of course, he cost the team more than $107 million, spent the last seven years pitching competitively in Japan, and these were the Padres, so you'd think he would do OK.) Still, thanks to some fresh PITCHf/x data released shortly after the game, we get a better idea of how he performed in his first outing.

There are several graphs here which break down his 36 pitches (including 26 strikes) on the day, which led to three strikeouts and two hits. Most notable is the third graph, which shows the five swinging strikes below the strike zone, and the average pitch data, which shows a 14 mph difference between his max fastball and curveball. Filthy, filthy stuff.

[ Brooks Baseball]