The New York Mets clearly had magic on their side Monday night. That or some incredible luck. In a battle against the San Diego Padres, it was almost impossible to tell the difference.
Let’s take it to the bottom of the seventh inning.
Luis Guillorme is up to bat against San Diego’s Yu Darvish. He drops a sinking bunt that somehow stayed fair on the thinnest of margins on the third-base line — much to the disbelief of New York announcer Gary Cohen. Two batters later, Tomas Nido tried to get one over on Darvish. He also got a hit that somehow perfectly straddled the third-base line.
What a twist of events seemingly no one watching could’ve fathomed:
Artistry. Pure artistry. New York would go on to win 5-0, but the victory wasn’t necessarily the star of the show. It was the third base line smiling on the Mets’ fortunes twice in one inning.
The San Diego Padres dropped Game 1 of the NLCS to the Phillies, 2-0, on Tuesday night and while Yu Darvish took the loss and gave up a monstrous home run to Kyle Schwarber, he did throw some nasty stuff that was pretty darn cool to watch.
One of those pitches by Darvish, who gave up just three hits in seven innings of work, was an 82 mph slider that Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos had no chance of touching.
You need to see this behind-the-plate view of that pitch because it will make you wonder how anybody gets a hit off a professional pitcher:
But recently some pitchers have been throwing in some moves with their legs to throw off the timing before firing off a pitch, which can make things even harder for the hitters who are standing in the box and looking to make something happen.
San Diego’s Yu Darvish messed with the timing a little bit before a pitch last night against the Royals and then followed it up with an absolutely nasty 97 mph called third strike that he finished off with an awesome bow.
A tornado warning was in effect for the Chicago area on Monday night, which led to some eerie scenes across the city. San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish didn’t seem too concerned.
As tornado sirens were going off loudly around Wrigley Field, the former Cubs pitcher was the only player out and about on the field. While the rest of the team took cover inside the clubhouse, Darvish remained outside to go through his regular warmup routine in preparation for his start.
When it comes to severe weather and tornados, this is the last thing you should be doing. And yet, Darvish was so casual about it all. (Sound on for the sirens)
While the entire Cubs and Padres teams take shelter amidst a tornado warning in Chicago, Yu Darvish is stretching all by himself in the outfield, prepping for a start.
Yeah, I wouldn’t recommend doing that. MLB fans were also surprised that Darvish was allowed to stay out on the field, but they respected his Midwestern spirit.
The Brewers will play the second game out of three on Saturday against the Cubs at Wrigley field, you can watch every MLB game here.
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The Milwaukee Brewers will play the second game of the three-game series with the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. Corbin Burnes will take the mound for the Brewers and Yu Darvish will get the nod for the Cubs.
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Milwaukee Brewers (+130) vs. Chicago Cubs (-143)
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Yu Darvish is a man of many talents, and, apparently, that includes the ability to correctly guess a person’s blood type based on their personality.
As reported by ESPN’s Jesse Rogers at Chicago Cubs training camp in Mesa, Arizona, the 33-year-old right-handed pitcher isn’t entirely sure how he developed this quirky and unique ability, but according to Darivsh and the others around him, he’s actually quite good at it.
Darvish explained that all it takes is a conversation with someone. By talking, he can evaluate their personality, and that interaction leads him to a certain blood type.
“It’s what I might use in casual conversation,” Darvish explained recently at Cubs camp. “Like [catcher] Victor Caratini might walk by and we’ll carry on the conversation.” And from that conversation, Darvish can guess his blood type. He explains:
“So there is Type A. That person is organized. Type B isn’t exactly selfish but he goes his own way. Type O is laid back, a ‘whatever happens’ type of guy. AB is weird or different.”
Judging by his explanation for how exactly this works, it doesn’t sound like Darvish can get too specific with blood types, like knowing if someone is O positive or B negative. But it’s still a cool trick regardless.
Of course, to know whether or not Darvish is correct, the other person has to know their own blood type.
Cubs players Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant asked their parents what their blood types are, according to the ESPN story, but none of them knew. But Darvish’s agent, Joel Wolfe, did — though he still had to have his mom confirm his blood type.
“It all started during his free-agent year [2018], when we were meeting with teams,” Wolfe explained. “We were at one of his favorite spots in Dallas for dinner, after meeting with all these general managers and assistant general managers. All these new people for him. And he mentions something about one of them being Type A blood type. That struck me as odd. He says unusual things, sometimes, so I pressed him. And he said he could guess most people’s blood type if he knows them. So he guessed mine. I had to call my mom, but he got it right.
“Then he was guessing a few people we knew in common.”
Previewing the National League Cy Young Award odds, with MLB betting odds, picks and best bets
Can anyone prevent Jacob deGrom from winning the 2020 National League Cy Young Award — which would be his third straight? The gang at BetMGM isn’t making it easy on bettors who think not, installing the Mets ace as the clear favorite at +280.
As of 4:30 p.m. ET Sunday, March 8, BetMGM has 10 other pitchers with a line of less than +3000:
Max Scherzer (+450)
Walker Buehler (+1000)
Jack Flaherty; Stephen Strasburg (+1100)
Clayton Kershaw (+1200)
Luis Castillo (+2000)
Patrick Corbin; Aaron Nola; Yu Darvish; Trevor Bauer (+2500)
National League Cy Young: Breaking down the field
When it comes to projecting a Cy Young winner, you try to go through a process of elimination.
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You don’t get enough return from deGrom. Strasburg is coming the best season of his career, but he has too long an injury history to ignore. The same goes for Kershaw. Opponents have a .208 career batting average against him and he has a career 2.44 ERA, but he hasn’t thrown 180 innings in any of his last four seasons, which limits your opportunities to get wins consistently.
Flaherty has talent and could be primed for a breakout season, but in 66 career starts he has a record of 19-19, which makes winning the Cy Young a spring training stretch — despite him going 7-2 with a 0.91 ERA after the All-Star Break last year. Castillo showed great improvement in 2019, but walks too many players, which leads to too many cheap runs being scored.
When it comes down to placing a wager, I would split the money between two of the top candidates that have solid return rates — Scherzer and Buehler. Scherzer is 35 so there is a concern about age, but in an era dominated by strikeouts, few are better than him. In five seasons in Washington, he has posted a sub-3.00 ERA of each of them and has an astounding 1,371 strikeouts in 1,050 2/3 innings. Last year, despite battling through back problems, he posted 243 strikeouts in 172 1/3 innings and a WHIP of 1.03 (his highest total in five years). He has all the tools.
Dodgers starting pitcher and budding ace Walker Buehler. (Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez – USA TODAY Sports)
Put the other half of your bankroll on Buehler. At +1000, there are a lot of things to like about him. The Dodgers have dominated the National League West, winning the last seven division titles and leaving no reason to expect they won’t again in 2020. With concerns over Kershaw’s availability for a full season, Buehler will likely be asked to take on the role of the innings-eating ace. At 25, he is hitting his prime and, with that potent Dodger lineup behind him, 20 wins is a possibility.
THE BET: Scherzer if you’re only betting on one player; Scherzer and Buehler if you’re willing to split your bet.
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