Which players do you think are good comps for Yu (from any era)? Why?

I'll start.

Speed Racer. He's fast.

Billy Sample or Dave Hostetler.

um.......

Speed Racer!

also, why?

Buggs Bunny. Because he gets all the ladies.

Daisuke Matsuzaka. Because they're both Chinese.

^that was the suck.

Bruce Banner. You don't want to make him angry...

They are very different pitchers. But statistically, Darvish's K/9, BB/9, and K/BB rates so far are virtually identical to Nolan Ryan's career rates. It's actually sort of uncanny how close they are.

Darvish
K/9 9.74, BB/9 4.97, K/BB 1.97

Ryan
K/9 9.55, BB/9 4.67, K/BB 2.04

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulp6dsF4iVA

this guy..

Wow. That is really close.

Nice - all of you except for the wonton guy.

In all seriousness (don't laugh) - my comp for Yu Darvish based on pure swing and miss stuff and early career control problems...

Pedro Martinez.

Unfortunately, I would probably use a guy like Ubaldo Jimenez. Big guy, lots of walks, and dominant stuff.

Just hoping that Yu figures it out and doesn't crater like Ubaldo.

Yeah, I can see that.

Ubaldo Jimenez really never had good control. He had good stuff but not necessarily projected to be dominant when he was coming up. His ratings as far as stuff and measurables weren't classified as elite. Also, if you look at his numbers, he's never had a K/9 over 9 and his BB/9 has always been hovering around 4-5 BB/9 during his minor career.

Yu has shown great command and control before. He has always been rated as elite in terms of stuff and measurables. His zips even projects a walk rate of 2.84 BB/9 for the rest of the year. I'll take that happily.

Fernando Valenzuela.

Both guys throw hard. Both came into the league with dominant stuff from Day One. Some of Darvish's pitches move in flat out unnatural ways. So did Fernando's screwball.

Personally, I don't really buy ZIPS projections for a guy with no MLB experience and no MiL history to rely on. While he had good command in Japan, he has never shown that ability here. Whether it was in spring training, early in the season, or in recent games - Yu has had major problems with control.

I, like every Rangers fan, think/hope that he will get it figured out. But I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that his walk numbers return anywhere near the levels he established in Japan.

I'll take zips before a fan's opinion every single day. Period.

"I, like every Rangers fan, think/hope that he will get it figured out. But I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that his walk numbers return anywhere near the levels he established in Japan."

He doesn't need it to be to be an ace. He just needs to get it down to a more respectable 3-3.5 per 9 and he's a bonafide ace. That is absolutely within the realms of possibility.

@ Txball - I agree and I like ZIPS. I just don't find it very valuable in this situation (nor do I find a fan's opinion very meaningful).

@ Jason - Fair point. But attacking the zone might also produce a lower K-rate. Don't get me wrong - I think the guy is going to dominate. But I'm not sure that his K-rate will remain consistent as he begins to throw more strikes and as teams begin to get their 2nd/3rd/4th look at him.

I think his K rate will improve if he starts to throw more strikes. Prior to his last outing, I looked at his walk #s. He had walked the 6-9 hitters almost as frequently as the 1-4 hitters. That was consistent with what I had noticed when watching him pitch. It seemed that he kept trying to throw perfectly located pitches to very weak hitters, and some of those pitches missed. I think as he becomes more familiar with the league and acquires confidence, he will not be so afraid to make mistakes against weak hitters. He'll throw the FB in the zone more frequently to them and do what he should do against those guys, i.e., get them out.

I agree RFan. I still am very excited about Darvish. But it is somewhat mind-boggling when he goes through those wild spells. There's two types that just drive you crazy:

The first is the walk to the weak hitter in a low-leverage situation
The second is the four pitch walk where basically every pitch is EXACTLY 4 inches off the plate and it's like he's TRYING to throw it there.