Darvish honored with All-MLB 1st Team nod
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CHICAGO -- Building an elite five-man rotation from this past season's top performers would lead to a few clear choices. After what Yu Darvish did for the Cubs this year, he would be an obvious pick for inclusion.
That was confirmed on Wednesday night, when Darvish was named to the All-MLB First Team rotation, alongside 2020 Cy Young Award winners Shane Bieber and Trevor Bauer, plus Jacob deGrom and Max Fried.
"I can't say enough about Yu," Cubs manager David Ross said at the end of the season. "It was fun to be his manager and watch him pitch every fifth day. He's a true professional. I'm very proud of the year he had."
The All-MLB selection process started in early November, with 50% of the vote coming from fans and the other half coming from a panel of experts.
Picking Darvish was a no-brainer, given that he led the National League in WAR (3.0 per FanGraphs) in 2020 and finished second to Bauer in balloting for the NL Cy Young. Darvish's WAR, 2.23 fielding independent pitching and 2.30 win probability added in '20 each ranked second to only Bieber in the Majors.
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Together, Darvish and Kyle Hendricks led the way for a Cubs' rotation that posted a 3.77 ERA, ranking fourth in the NL and sixth in the Majors. That helped Chicago capture the NL Central crown for the team's fifth postseason berth in a six-year span, following missing October in 2019.
In a dozen starts, Darvish won eight games and posted a 2.01 ERA with 93 strikeouts and 14 walks in 76 innings. From July 31-Sept. 4, Darvish allowed no more than one run in seven straight winning decisions. It was the first streak of its kind in the Majors since 2014 (Clayton Kershaw) and the first for the Cubs since Ed Reulbach in 1906.
The foundation for Darvish's incredible showing in '20 was set in '19, when he turned a corner in the second half. Dating back to the All-Star break two seasons ago, the right-hander has spun a 2.40 ERA with 211 strikeouts against 21 walks in 157 2/3 innings (25 starts). He has a 34.6% strikeout rate and 3.4% walk rate in that stretch.
"You just see a poise about him out there," Ross said. "He's in total control with so many different pitches. That's what is hard for me to grasp as an ex-catcher, is the command of so many different pitches and speeds at which he throws them."