Cubs land Yu Darvish: Fantasy Fallout

Yu Darvish is headed to Chicago. The Cubs inked him to a six-year deal, but what is the fantasy fallout of Chicago’s newest addition?

Spring training is nearly upon us, yet the Cubs may have made a huge free agent splash by signing Yu Darvish to a six-year deal. The Cubs had an opening in their rotation and adding Darvish puts them right back into consideration as one of the best teams in MLB.

What is the fantasy fallout of the deal heading into 2018?

The last memory of most owners, and fans of Darvish, was his disaster start in the World Series for the Dodgers. Even though he went out on a sour note, it should not take away from his stellar 2017 season.

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Last season, was only the second 30+ start campaign for Darvish, and he ended the year with a 3.86 ERA/209 K/1.16 WHIP over 186 innings. He really took off once dealt to the Dodgers at the trade deadline, posting a 3.44 ERA over nine starts.

Darvish’s fastball clocked in at an average of 94 mph last season, the highest of his career. He shifted away from his fastball-heavy approach, throwing his slider 25%, and his cutter use jumped to 16%.

He is well renowned for having a gazillion pitches in his arsenal. Yet, it was nice to see him stick mostly to a three-pitch mix, fastball/slider/curve, which clearly allowed him to post a career-best 7.6%. BB rate.

Take away a horrid July, 7.20 ERA over five starts, Darvish did not post higher than a 3.71 ERA in any other month. Home runs were up across the league, and he fared no different, seeing his HR rise to 27.

Digging deeper into his batted ball profile, he stayed close to his career norms, posting a 22% LD, 41% GB, 37% FB, 21% Soft, 46% Med, and 33% Hard contact rates. It was also nice to see his first strike stay solid at 60%, while also pounding the zone at a career-best 48% rate.

The move for Chicago makes a ton of sense, and it adds a true upside arm, on a pretty team friendly deal. Now that Darvish is in the N.L. for a whole season and away from hitter-friendly Arlington, he should have no issue reaching 200+ K yet again. His ERA can be tricky to pinpoint, yet his profile clearly speaks to a pitcher that can stay right around the 3.50 mark.

Next: Fantasy Baseball 2018: First Base Rankings

This serves as one of the better landing spots for Darvish. The Cubs will be good yet again, he had another solid season and his peripherals are encouraging. The Cubs fortified their rotation, and fantasy owners can now target Darvish as a low-end SP1 or high-end SP2.

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