5 reasons why teams should pursue Darvish

Just a few months ago, Yu Darvish was one of the hottest names on the trade market. Now, after being dealt from the Rangers to the Dodgers, he's one of the top starting pitchers in free agency.
Even after a pair of rough starts in the World Series, there are plenty of factors that should make the 31-year-old Darvish a highly coveted pitcher.
With Hot Stove season here, MLB.com is taking a closer look at some of the biggest names available. Here are five reasons why any team would want to sign Darvish this offseason.
1. He can strike out the world
Darvish notched his third 200-strikeout season in 2017, fanning 209 batters between the Rangers and Dodgers. He averaged 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings, and he has reached a double-digit K's-per-nine rate in all five big league seasons. Darvish's 11.0 career K/9 is second highest among qualified starters since his first season in 2012, behind only José Fernández. He has struck out 29.7 percent of batters he has faced in the Major Leagues, the highest career mark for any starting pitcher who has thrown as many innings as him.
Highest career strikeout percentage by a starting pitcher (minimum 800 innings)
1. Yu Darvish, 29.7 percent

2. Chris Sale, 29.2 percent
   
3. Stephen Strasburg, 29.0 percent
   
4. Randy Johnson, 28.6 percent
   
5. Clayton Kershaw, 27.9 percent

2. He has got electric stuff
Darvish can beat batters with a dazzling array of pitches that move in every direction -- from his mid-90s fastball to his cutter to his wipeout slider to his Bugs Bunny-slow curveball and more. Statcast™ helps show some of what makes his arsenal so sharp.
Let's zoom in on Darvish's four-seamer -- one of the highest-spin fastballs in the Majors. Among starters who threw the pitch regularly in 2017, Darvish averaged the third-highest four-seam spin rate (2,499 rpm), behind only Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. His spin averaged 2,534 rpm in the postseason.
Fastballs with high spin have the "rising fastball" effect and tend to get more swings and misses, and they can be especially effective when elevated. So it's no surprise that Darvish allowed the fifth-lowest batting average on four-seamers in the upper third of the zone or higher in 2017 at .153.
Highest average four-seam spin rate by a starting pitcher in 2017 (minimum 500 thrown)

1. Justin Verlander, 2,541 rpm
   
2. Max Scherzer, 2,504 rpm
   3. Yu Darvish, 2,499 rpm
   
3. Sonny Gray, 2,490 rpm
   
4. Jeff Samardzija, 2,485 rpm

3. That stuff can make him extremely tough to hit
It's no wonder that opposing hitters have batted just .219 against Darvish in his five-year career, the fifth-lowest batting average against among qualified starters over that time. He isn't just tough to square up, he's tough to make contact against.
This past season, opponents whiffed on 28.2 percent of their swings against Darvish, tying him for the 12th-best whiff rate among 99 pitchers who had at least 1,000 swings against them. And Darvish recorded the highest swing-and-miss total in a Major League game this season with 31 swinging strikes versus the Rays on July 21.
Lowest batting average allowed by a qualified starting pitcher since 2012

1. Clayton Kershaw, .196
   
2. Jose Fernandez, .206
   
3. Max Scherzer, .209
   
4. Jake Arrieta, .211
   5. Yu Darvish, .219
   Most swinging strikes in a game in 2017
   1. Yu Darvish, 31 -- July 21 vs. Rays
   
5. Max Scherzer, 30 -- June 21 vs. Marlins
   
6. Ervin Santana, 29 -- Aug. 2 vs. Padres
   4 (tie). Masahiro Tanaka, 27 -- Sept. 14 vs. Orioles
   4 (tie). Jacob deGrom, 27 -- April 22 vs. Nationals

4. He has produced every season
Aside from the season he missed due to Tommy John surgery in 2015, Darvish has been better than the MLB average every year he has pitched. His ERA- -- a park- and league-adjusted version of ERA where 100 is league average -- has been 90 or less every season, meaning he has been at least 10 percent better than league average every year.
Darvish's cumulative ERA- as a Major Leaguer is 80. Looking at standard ERA, he has never posted one over 4.00 since coming to the Majors. That makes Darvish one of 15 starting pitchers who have pitched at least five seasons with 100-plus innings and a sub-4.00 ERA since 2012.
5. His slider
When Darvish struggled during the World Series, it was largely because he lost his touch with his signature pitch: the slider. When it is on, the slider moves like something from a video game. Darvish has a track record of throwing the pitch, which means teams should feel confident he'll regain command of it.
In 2017, Darvish held opponents to a .165 batting average against his slider, ninth best among the 86 starters who had at least 75 at-bats decided on the pitch. Expand that to the start of '16, and he has held hitters to a .151 average against his slider, fifth lowest of 76 starters with at least 150 at-bats decided on sliders.
Lowest batting average against on sliders by a starting pitcher since 2016 (minimum 150 at-bats decided by pitch)

1. Dinelson Lamet, .139
   
2. Carlos Martínez, .146
   
3. Max Scherzer, .147
   
4. Sean Manaea, .150
   5. Yu Darvish, .151