Darvish unable to solve Mariners : Rangers starter Yu Darvish's struggles against the Mariners continued during Monday night's series opener against Seattle. Darvish, who was making his ninth start of the season, allowed five runs (four earned) on four hits over four innings in the 6-1 defeat. Most of the damage he surrendered came in the third inning as the Mariners would score three runs in the frame, with two of those coming on a Ichiro Suzuki two-run single. He was pulled after throwing 96 pitches and finished with six walks and five strikeouts, while falling to 6-2 on the season. (Updated 05/22/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 5/25/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Darvish now has two losses on the season and both have come at the hands of the Mariners. The right-hander has now surrendered nine earned runs and 10 walks over his 9 2/3 innings against Seattle this season, but barring a change in the rotation, will miss them the next time the Rangers play the Mariners. The 25-year-old has been as good as advertised against everybody else he has faced this season and even with his latest hiccup still has posted a 3.05 ERA while racking up 63 strikeouts over his 56 innings pitched. Darvish will look to get himself back on track when he makes his next start, which is scheduled for Sunday against the Blue Jays. The right-hander is 4-0 with a 3.00 ERA in four home starts this season. Leave him active in all formats heading into his next outing. (Updated 05/22/2012).
05/24/2012 21:17 3 to Watch: The 'Is this year different in Cleveland?' edition
The Indians will be in first place on Memorial Day, just like last year. This was the time that their 2011 season began falling apart. If this year is different -- and they think it is -- then maybe we'll start seeing evidence of it this weekend in Chicago. Hey, as 3 to Watch says, somebody has to win the American League Central, and right now the heavily-favored Tigers are struggling.
05/22/2012 17:06 Yu Darvish is on the who's not list
Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish has fallen to the who's not list. The Fantasy Baseball 360 crew has all the analysis.
05/22/2012 01:13 M's knock out Darvish, defeat Rangers
Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners chased Texas' Yu Darvish after just four innings in his shortest start of the season, and the Mariners rolled to their fourth straight win in a 6-1 victory over the Rangers on Monday night.
05/20/2012 22:47 The Lineup: Lucroy explodes, Yu vs. King Felix on tap for Monday
3 Up, 3 Down; On Deck; Pepper. It's The Lineup. Today's version gives some love to Jonathan Lucroy, Ryan Cook and Scott Van Slyke. We also look ahead to Yu Darvish vs. Felix Hernandez and have a video of an instant replay FAIL in Japan.
Yu Darvish was one of the more sought-after international players up for grabs in recent years this past offseason and ended up landing on the defending, two-time AL champion Rangers. He went 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA in 28 starts for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in 2011 and posted a 276-to-36 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 232 innings pitched. The 25-year-old compiled a 1.99 ERA in the last seven seasons in Japan, including winning the Pacific League MVP twice, and is expected to become a front-of-the-line starter in the majors this year. While it could take him a few years to become the ace in Texas, Darvish has all the tools to make it in the majors, and should be a viable option in Fantasy right from the get-go. The Rangers still haven't decided how they are going to use the right-hander -- since he only pitched once a week in Japan -- but he will definitely have an impact as the club committed more than $111 million to Darvish. Plan on taking Darvish in the middle rounds of mixed leagues on Draft Day. (Updated 2/17/12)