LOS ANGELES — Japanese star pitcher Yu Darvish will make his debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday at New York against the Mets, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday.
The Dodgers, who own the best record in the major leagues at 74-31, obtained the 30-year-old right-hander from the Texas Rangers for three minor-league players just ahead of Monday’s Major League Baseball trade deadline.
Darvish, who will wear number 21 for the Dodgers, is set to toss his first bullpen session with his new teammates on Wednesday.
Roberts said he has exchanged text messages with Darvish and added he was excited to welcome him to the squad.
“He is an elite pitcher, and talking with certain people over there (at Texas) that were teammates of his that I played with, he is a great teammate and competitor,” Roberts said.
Darvish has not started since July 26, when he surrendered 10 runs, but will have had eight days rest before facing the Mets. Darvish owns a 3.06 career earned-run average (ERA) on six or more rest days compared to a 3.49 ERA in all other starts.
“He has a great pitching mix and is very elite,” Roberts said. “You add him to the pitching staff that we already have and that makes us considerably better.”
Darvish, who has a 4.01 ERA with 148 strikeouts over 137 innings this season, has been impressive against National League clubs in limited exposure since the Rangers play in the American League.
Darvish is 8-3 with a 3.07 ERA in 105 2/3 innings pitched against NL clubs with 11.8 strikeouts every nine innings. Opposing NL batters hit just .208 against him. — AFP
