Chicago Cubs: What can we expect from Yu Darvish this season?

The Chicago Cubs are expecting a bounce-back season from Yu Darvish in 2019.

The Chicago Cubs 2019 campaign is officially underway. With yesterday’s 12-4  win over the Texas Rangers, the team is once again poised for a playoff run as they hope to regain their division crown.

A large part of their success this season will undoubtedly hinge on the productivity of their starting rotation, and more specifically, their big free agency signing a year ago, Yu Darvish. Assuming he is fully recovered from a blister he had on his index finger, Darvish is set to make his 2019 debut this Saturday. It’ll be his first big league appearance since May 20, 2018.

With this in mind, it’s only natural to wonder what we can truly expect from Darvish this season. When you spend the type of money the Cubs spent just to get him in Cubbie pinstripes, the expectations coming in are significantly higher. The interesting thing, however, is that those expectations have substantially dropped, rather than risen as fans are merely hoping for any production they can possibly get out of him.

Overall, Darvish had a nice spring and showed that his velocity is still there as he often sat between 94-97 MPH on the gun. His stuff looks as good as ever, so the belief within the organization is that he will return to form and have a nice season.

When healthy, Darvish’s array of pitches is as filthy as they come. But his ability to maintain his health remains in question, especially given his track record of being injury prone over the course of his career.

It’s important to remember that we aren’t too far removed from last season when fans and media alike questioned the mental, physical and emotional strength of Darvish because of the various setbacks he suffered and what seemed to be a nonchalant attitude toward returning to game action.

Even prior to the injuries, Darvish didn’t exactly set the world on fire with his performance at the beginning of the season. He routinely struggled pitch past the fifth inning, and in his lone victory, he again lasted just five innings to barely qualify for the decision.

So realistically, what can we expect to see from Darvish this season? If I am being honest, I dont expect a ton. Perhaps I’m refusing to get my hopes up for fear of being royally disappointed once more. Or maybe, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Japanese star isn’t quite what he used to be.

The Cubs will be fine with or without Darvish, they proved just that last year. But if they’re going to have a shot at returning to the World Series and winning it, they’ll need Yu to contribute in a big way.