In mid-December, when the Yu Darvish bidding process was reaching a boiling point, it was reported by numerous sources that the Toronto Blue Jays, of all teams, had won the bidding to negotiate with the Japanese pitching sensation of the Nippon Ham Fighters. The prevailing thought around these parts was disappointment, but consolation that he wasn't won by the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
We soon found out that those reports were false, as the Texas Rangers ended up blowing everyone out of the water to win the rights to sign Darvish, which they would do a month later.
Tonight, Darvish will set foot in the Rogers Centre, where it was all but official he'd be making his transition from Japanese baseball to the big leagues. And he'll be doing it a week after his "show-the-baseball-world-what-he's-made-of" start against the Yankees' dreaded lineup a week ago.
Last Tuesday, Darvish dazzled the baseball world when he went 8 1/3 innings against the Yankees in a 2-0 Rangers win (the first Rangers shutout of the Yankees since 2000) as he fanned 10 batters and induced 14 ground balls.
Darvish has improved in each of his four outings and will be squaring off against promising Toronto starter Kyle Drabek as both pitchers have ERAs under 3.00 on the young season.
We'll see if he can write another chapter in his book of superstardom.
