Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish has five 14-strikeout games this season. The rest of Major League Baseball — all of it — combines for three 14-strikeout games. On Monday afternoon, Yu carried a perfect game against the Astros into the sixth, got screwed on a call, then lost his chance at a no-hitter in the 8th. He had 15 strikeouts in that game.
And if that’s not enough, now he can pitch left-handed. How did I not know about this?
This is the terrifying baseball equivalent of that decapitated snake that tried to bite its own body to death. Here’s footage of him practicing. If I’m the Houston Astros, I’m prepping for a 27-strikeout game right the hell now.
[mlbvideo id=”29671829″ width=”600″ height=”424″ /]
Here’s everything you need to know about the history of Switch-Pitchers, from the ever-reliable Wikipedia:
Four 19th-century pitchers are known to have thrown with both hands: Tony Mullane in 1882 and in 1893, Elton Chamberlain in 1888, Larry Corcoran in 1884, and George Wheeler. Greg A. Harris is the only major league pitcher in the modern era to pitch with both his left and his right arm. A natural righty, by 1986 he could throw well enough lefthanded that he felt capable of pitching with either arm in a game. Harris did not throw lefty in a regular-season game until September 28, 1995, the penultimate game of his career.
The page also features this tidbit:
Yu Darvish also throws with his left hand when training. He does this to keep both arms strong and balanced. He does not pitch left-handed during a game, however.
Just you wait.
