Yu Darvish Hit The First Home Run By A Rangers Pitcher Since 1997
Look at this sneaky motherfucker acting like he doesn’t know how to swing a bat, and then BOOM, 410 feet to dead center. I was just looking up his numbers in Japan, and not only was that the first home run by a Rangers pitcher since 1997, it’s also the first home run of Yu Darvish’s entire professional career. Over 7 years with the Nippon Ham Fighters (fire name), Darvish only got 38 plate appearances and went 5-for-36 with four singles and a double.
It felt like, to me, that more pitchers were hitting home runs this year compared to last year. Not true. At least, not yet. Last season, 18 pitchers combined to hit 25 home runs, and so far this year, after Darvish’s home run, 16 pitchers have combined to hit 22 home runs. Madison Bumgarner is having a little bit of a down year power-wise. He’s only at 3 home runs, when last year he led the majors in homers by a pitcher with 5, also leading with 4 the year before. Right now, Bumgarner is tied with Noah Syndergaard with 3. If Bumgarner doesn’t hit another one, it’ll be the first time since 2013 that he hasn’t stood alone as the major league leader in home runs by a pitcher.