Back before he signed with the Chicago Cubs, we were marveling about Yu Darvish.
No, it wasn’t because of his live fastball, sharp slider, or variety of pitches – although those things did get plenty of love at the time. Instead, it was because we saw this video:
Yu Darvish is throwing 68 with his left arm and mixing in a changeup and slider. I'm amazed pic.twitter.com/Ivjgut8sAq
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) January 3, 2018
Yu Darvish throwing a variety of pitches left-handed, with better-than-position-player velocity! And did you see the movement on his slider!
Turns out, Darvish still throws lefty in camp:
What’s Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish got left? Almost 80 mph, that’s what.
Darvish was spotted a spring training throwing left handed. Do you think he should give it a try this season? https://t.co/vcHzecIIXX pic.twitter.com/E1X9D60E6H
— Sun-Times Sports (@suntimes_sports) February 21, 2019
What's Cubs' right-hander Yu Darvish got left? Almost 80 mph, that's what https://t.co/BVABbxrx34 via @suntimes
— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) February 20, 2019
That’s just a really fun read right there about the Cubs power righty. Although it’s largely for fun, the lefty throwing does help Darvish stay balanced, physically, when he’s doing long-toss a day after throwing righty.
Sounds like there are no ambidextrous pitcher plans in the future for Darvish, though (Sun-Times): “No chance. I can’t throw strikes. And my left elbow is not good.”
It’s still fun, though.