CHICAGO -- Early May isn’t a time to jump ship on a player or team, though it also doesn’t mean a starter like Chicago Cubs righty Yu Darvish isn’t above criticism for one simple reason: When he loses games because of mental breakdowns, despite having good stuff, it only highlights those contests where his stuff is below average.
The latter was the case on Wednesday, when Darvish -- once again -- failed to pitch at least five innings in an 11-2 blowout loss to the Colorado Rockies. Unlike some other poor outings, he wasn’t executing much at all.
“I was throwing the ball up in the zone where they would usually foul it off, but [Chris] Iannetta hit it well so I think they were just hitting the ball high in the zone in general today,” Darvish said through his interpreter after the game.
Iannetta was one of three Rockies who took Darvish deep as he gave up six runs on seven hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. Darvish did have eight strikeouts, but on a day when the wind was blowing out, he wasn’t careful enough. And as that Iannetta home run reached the stands -- the second one Darvish gave up in the fifth inning -- the boo birds could be heard at Wrigley.
“They put the bat on the ball and had the ability to make contact,” catcher Willson Contreras said through his own interpreter. “That’s pretty much what it came down to. ... He was over the plate a lot in the strike zone.”
A pitcher not having his A-plus material isn’t worthy of a headline, but when he can’t finish five innings even on days when he does have his stuff, it makes outings like Wednesday’s less acceptable.
Darvish has failed to complete five innings in four of his six starts this year. That already matches a career high set just last season. The Cubs thought they could get more out of Darvish when they signed him to a six-year, $126 million contract. They’re getting decidedly less.
And how rough has the fifth inning been? His ERA in that frame is 31.50. No, that’s not a typo.
“All the other games, including this one, I feel like I should take [responsibility] for,” Darvish said. “But every game that I pitch, there is progress inside of me.”
In two or three of his outings, Darvish fell apart after running into adversity, despite having a good fastball and movement on his pitches. He needs to win those games more often so clunkers don’t crush his season, and more importantly the Cubs’ title hopes. After Wednesday, Darvish’s ERA is an even, if unsightly, 6.00. The only thing the Cubs can do is support him. He might need it.
“We just trust that the process, as it goes for him, will continue to get better,” teammate Ben Zobrist said. “One month is one month. Everyone can struggle for a month. He’ll get comfortable and find his groove. We won’t be talking about it too much more.”
But unlike other newcomers to a team, Darvish may not be able to turn his fortunes around by just becoming comfortable in his new surroundings. He has to make the mental adjustments necessary to be a consistent winner after signing his big deal.
“It was bad rhythm,” Darvish said. “A lot of things did not go well today.”
The same can be said for a Cubs offense that is stuck in the mud. Despite three straight days with good hitting conditions at Wrigley Field, they stretched a streak of scoring three or fewer runs to eight games. According to ESPN Stats & Information, that’s their longest streak since the summer of 2015. All the more reason they needed an ace-like performance from Darvish.
Between the two worries, the offense and Darvish, it’s hard to imagine the Cubs not scoring enough to win over the long haul. It’s much harder to predict Darvish’s future.
“Of course you want to see him get deeper,” manager Joe Maddon said. “Execution wasn’t as good today. He looks good, but the conclusion [to his pitches] hasn’t been as good.”
Darvish added: “There are good days and bad days. Today was the latter. Everything in general went south today.”
There have been too many of those days for Darvish with the Cubs.