Yu Darvish has a new pitch and it sounds filthy

As the Cubs prepare for a shortened MLB season, Yu Darvish has a surprise for opposing hitters.

Cubs fans are hoping 2020 is the season Yu Darvish finally lives up to his six-year, $126 million contract. Such a deal will pay him in the $20 million range annually through the 2023 season. Darvish has a rich pitching arsenal to choose from, but he’s adding another option, per pitching coach Tom Hottovy.

Darvish is one of the more unique pitchers in all of baseball, in that he can freelance on the fly depending on the opponent he’s facing. By mixing up pitch sequences and using any number of near double-digit pitch combinations, he doesn’t have to worry about tipping his fastball.

Cubs’ Yu Darvish has a new pitch, and it has an awesome nickname to boot.

During Saturday’s intrasquad game, Darvish debuted the ‘Supreme’, which is a two-seam, splitter hybrid, on a few occasions. Hottovy didn’t say whether the pitch fooled Cubs hitters, but adding another strange, never-before-seen toss to your selection can’t hurt matters.

“We want our guys to feel comfortable on the mound no matter what,” Hottovy told Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. “If he feels comfortable having a pocket full of pitches that he can whip out at any time, then we want him to have the reins off him to be able to do that.”

Paired with his new pitch, Darvish was throwing 97 MPH during the scrimmage, suggesting he’s already in form despite a significant layoff and the looming threat of COVID-19.

Darvish has been outspoken about the risk MLB players are taking in partaking in a shortened 2020 season. The 33-year-old became the first prominent player to speak up about the looming issue in Spring Training this March, and considering MLB suspended operations shortly thereafter, he was ahead of the curve.

For Yu’s sake, we hope the regular season goes on without a hitch, and he can debut his new pitch to thousands watching nationwide.