Back during the 2017 season, Yu Darvish was working as one of the Los Angeles Dodgers aces. He helped take his club to the World Series where they faced off against the Houston Astros.
It was a great series as it went the distance which saw Darvish taking the ball for Game 7. Unfortunately, Houston would get the best of him, leading to their 5-1 victory.
Following the loss, TMZ caught up with Darvish in the streets to see how he was feeling. The hard-throwing righty was honest in his response, as he felt he let the fanbase down:
"I'm good, I just feel bad about my Game 7 [and] what I did."
Darvish lasted just 1.2 innings before being pulled. During that time, he gave up five runs on three hits while walking a batter. He put his club in an early hole they could not dig themselves out of. Darvish said:
"Still feel bad about Dodgers fans because they expect [us to] win the World Series. I couldn't do it, so I feel like that I'm sorry, but I did my 100%."
Yu Darvish was close to ending his former team's season
Fast forward a few years later, and Yu Darvish is now a member of the San Diego Padres. They stacked up against the Los Angeles Dodgers and the two teams played a great series.
Both teams made it all the way to Game 5 of the NLDS. Darvish got the ball for the all-important Game 5 and pitched a great game. He lasted 6.2 innings, giving up just two runs on three hits while striking out four batters.
Unfortunately, he could not get any run support, leading to the team's 2-0 loss on Friday. Now, the Padres season has come to a close, and the focus is shifting to next season.
Next season could be a special year in San Diego as the team is not losing too many players. It only has a handful of free agents and an exciting core making names for themselves.
The Padres should also come out next season looking for revenge. It is never easy to see your division rival end your season, and that will likely be on the players' minds all off-season.
Do not sleep on San Diego coming into the 2025 season. It has the talent to make a deep run, they just have to put all the pieces together.