Jeff Banister, who has been on the job as Rangers' manager for about two months now, finally met his man this week when he had his first meeting with the Rangers ace pitcher Yu Darvish at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
"Impressive man," Banister told reporters on Thursday in what seems to be true Banister, short-and-to-the-point fashion. "He's much bigger when you stand next to him than when you see him from the dugout. Very impressive guy. Had a great conversation. Spent some time together this morning."
It's good that Banister is warming up to Darvish, whose season was cut short by two months in 2014 after he was shut down with elbow inflammation when the Rangers were well out of the playoff race. He finished with a 10-7 record and a 3.06 ERA.
That elbow inflammation was deemed fix with his MRI last week, and team physician Dr. Keith Meister said Darvish would be able to begin his throwing program on schedule and should be ready to hit the ground running in February when pitchers and catchers report to Surprise, Ariz., for spring training.
