Yu Darvish shows off incredible pitching skills in intense practice session ahead of 2025 season with Padres

Yu Darvish is hard at work this offseason to maintain good form heading into the 2025 season. Pitchers and catchers don't report for another few weeks to Spring Training, but Darvish has been staying active since the San Diego Padres finished play in the NLDS in October.

Darvish took to his Instagram Story on Tuesday and showed off his form. It was a simple pitch to a catcher, but it's proof that he hasn't stopped throwing. Pitchers often need to ramp up before they can throw legitimate pitches; however, Darvish appears to already be at that stage.

Yu Darvish shared a pitching workout to his Instagram story (Instagram/darvishsefat11)

The Padres haven't played since they were ousted by the LA Dodgers, but Darvish appears to have taken little time off. When pitchers and catchers report in February, he'll likely be in the best shape of them all.

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Yu Darvish wants Roki Sasaki with the Padres

The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes is reportedly down to the LA Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays. The New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets were recently eliminated.

Yu Darvish wants the Padres to get Roki Sasaki (Imagn)

All signs pointed to the Dodgers being the favorites since some Japanese stars have already signed with them. This is something that disappoints another Japanese star: Yu Darvish.

According to reports from SI, Darvish doesn't like that the Dodgers have formed a Japanese superteam, so he wants Sasaki to shun them for the Padres. They have a good chance of signing him, but it'll be hard for Sasaki to pass up the defending champions who have only gotten better this offseason.

It doesn't help that they have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani and added Korean infielder Hyesong Kim. They have an Asian connection, especially in Japan.

If Darvish gets his wish, the Dodgers and Padres would have two Japanese stars each. It would only add to their fiery rivalry and the tense matchups they'll have in the next few years.