One of the ongoing questions throughout this season for the Texas Rangers will be whether they made the right decision in letting C.J. Wilson walk in free agency while pursuing an unproven, albeit really talented pitcher in Japan's Yu Darvish.
Throw aside the fact that Darvish is six years young than Wilson and just compare apples to apples. Wilson was the team leader in wins and strikeouts over the past two seasons when the Rangers won the AL pennant, so it was a lot to let walk. But so far so good for Darvish, who's 7-2 with an ERA just a hair over 3.00.
One great way to judge the decision is watching the two go head-to-head, which we had a chance to do back on May 11 before rains delayed the game before the first inning could even end. After a near-two hour rain delay, Darvish came back to pitch into the sixth and pick up the win while C.J. went back to the hotel and prepared to start the next day's game, in which he earned a no-decision in an Angels' win.
The rain robbed the fans of the whole Yu vs. C.J. dynamic for more than an inning, anyway, but we'll get a chance to see it again if rotations hold true come Saturday night when the Rangers travel to Anaheim to face the Angels.
Both teams have an off-day on Thursday, so they could mix up their rotations a bit but if things hold as planned, we'll get another look at C.J. vs. Yu.
Taking a look at their last two starts each, Yu has gone nine innings total while giving up seven earned runs to the Toronto Blue Jays (win) and the Seattle Mariners (loss).
Wilson has gone 14 innings, giving up only one earned run on three total hits against the Mariners and the Oakland A's (both wins). Yikes.
