Padres Pitching Coach Calls Friars All-Star a 'Generational Pitcher'

Darvish, 37, has 14 hits in his major league career as a hitter. All came right-handed, though as this video demonstrates he can hit a ball a long way left-handed, too:

"Yu Darvish body control and balance is special," Niebla wrote. "Generational pitcher."

Darvish doesn't warm up left-handed for amusement. Rather, he does so to balance the left and right hemispheres of his body.

In a 2019 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Darvish told Gordon Wittenmyer he began throwing left-handed in junior high school, when he was 14.

"At that time, it was not so good,” he said. “But it’s getting better since I’ve come to MLB.”

While with Hokkaido Nippon Ham of the Pacific League, Darvish would throw from the left side on the first day after a start, the Dallas Morning News' Gerry Fraley reported in 2012.

In 2012, an image of Darvish throwing left-handed made its way onto a Topps baseball card.

During his recovery from Tommy John surgery (2015-16), Darvish said he was clocked throwing 79 mph left-handed.

But he's sworn off the idea of trying it in a game.

“No chance,” Darvish told Wittenmyer. “I can’t throw strikes. And my left elbow is not good.”

At least it looks good. Darvish throwing with his "wrong" hand looks better than many throwing with their dominant hand.

Darvish is 112-91 with a 3.62 ERA in 289 career starts in MLB. In five seasons with the Padres, he's 41-35 with a 3.89 ERA in 107 starts.

So far this season, Davish is 2-3 with a 5.61 ERA in seven games. After returning from the injured list in July, Darvish got off to a slow start. He was 0-3 with a 9.18 ERA after his first four outings.

But Darvish is 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA in three games since, offering a sliver of faith that he'll continue to be productive over the final three years of his six-year, $108 million contract. He didn't even have to switch hands.

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