ST. LOUIS — Yu Darvish is so determined to deliver for the Cubs in 2020, he’s planning to start his offseason throwing program earlier than usual.
What does one thing have to do with the other?
“I’m a little worried about next season,” he said, “because if I lose this feeling in the first couple months, it happens again.”
“It” being another crisis of confidence, or crisis of comfort, along the lines of what the $126 million pitcher experienced with the Cubs until a startling second-half turnaround this season.
Darvish finished the season so locked in with his command — consider his 46 strikeouts and four walks in September — that it’s tantalizing to think of what his 2020 could look like.
He has an idea.
“It’s weird because I had only six wins [in 2019], so I should have more,” he said. “Next year, I hope I can [have] at least 15 wins.”
This is a pitcher who, at 33, is still learning — or maybe he’s learning anew — how to fully believe in himself.
“I am pretty confident right now,” he said. “I’m so looking forward to next spring training, but I want to see how is my command in next spring training. That [comes] first, but I have a lot of confidence right now.”
Any chance at all Darvish will take advantage of the opportunity to opt out of the last four years of his contract with the Cubs? He still must arrive at an official decision, but he indicated that the answer is no.
“I have to talk to my family and agent, too,” he said. “But my kids and my wife love Chicago — especially the kids, [who] only care about the Cubbies — so I don’t think so.”
After the boos he heard since joining the Cubs, the “Yuuus” with which he was serenaded often throughout the second half meant a ton to him. And after mostly keeping to himself around his teammates during an injury-shortened 2018, he came out of his shell in Year 2.
“Now I’m talking to a lot of guys, and I know who they are,” he said. “This organization is perfect for me.”
