Yu Darvish got roughed up by the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon, when he failed to record an out in the 5th inning before giving up six hits, five walks, and five earned runs. While the Cubs went on to win in thrilling fashion, the outing continued what has been a frustrating second season in the Second City for Darvish.
Darvish’s surface statistics are ugly: an unsightly 5.79 ERA with a 1.71 WHIP. For context, Tyler Chatwood‘s ERA and WHIP last season were 5.30 and 1.80, respectively. Even the most pessimistic prognosticators of Darvish probably did not call for him to essentially replicate Chatwood’s nightmare 2018.