Darvish def. has confidence issues. I watched him on the Rangers. He doesnt challenge anymore when he is down. He has issues knowing his stuff is great. He would challenge when he was younger. There probaby is a mechanical issue somewhere, but his mind is def not the same. I think he gets into his head because the guy came in the league always dominating and now he has had adversity. Baseball is a game very much like tennis and golf. The mental aspect is huge. Hopefully, he can relax with a good team and get the feeling he used to have where he was the best on the field. Its the only way to be a great pitcher in the league.
This is my opinion, but I feel like I watched him more than anyone here because the Rangers are on my local tv. I dont see the same man on the mound when he throws and its isnt his stuff. Thats still there.
I mean he literally said after the game yesterday he just can't locate his 4 seam fastball some days which is why he purely featured his sinker. The 4 seam was the pitch in the past he typically threw ~40% of the time. It's pretty hard to challenge a hitter when your primary pitch just isn't working and that's clearly a mechanical issue.
That being said, this could be a blessing in disguise I think. Historically, Darvish has been a fly ball pitcher and because of that he's been prone to giving up higher than average home runs. His ground ball rate this year has skyrocketed to 53.0%. League average is like 43% and Darvish the several years prior has gone 36.3%, 40.4%, 40.7% and 37.6% from 2014-2018. So, that elevated ground ball rate is in stark contrast to what he's been the past several years. And personally I think that benefits him going forward as he ages because stuff isn't going to last forever.
Obviously that's all dependent on him actually figuring out how to make his sinker work as a primary pitch but looking at his sinker usage from saturday it was mostly in the zone. 40 of the 45 were either strikes or contact. As such, I think this is likely encouraging going forward unless hitters are just teeing off on his sinker.
