Yu's slow pace gets results; talking leadoff

CHICAGO -- Yu Darvish believes he had the conversation with Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy in June or July of last season. For years, coaches had told Darvish to focus on his tempo on the mound, but he felt that was taking his concentration away from the pitch at hand.

So Darvish talked to Hottovy about concentrating more on pitching, and less on pacing.

"I'm a slow guy -- when I was in Japan," Darvish said of his deliberate pitching style. "After I came here, a lot of guys want me to throw [as] quick as possible. And that didn't work for me. When I focus on that, I can't focus on my pitch."

To Darvish's point, he averaged between 25.1-27.1 seconds between pitches across the 2012-17 campaigns, according to Fangraphs' pace statistics. The righty was at 26.5 seconds on average in '18 in his injury-marred Cubs debut season.

Darvish slowed things down in 2019, increasing the lag time to 29.4 seconds on average. Per Fangraphs, he was at 28.1 in the first half and then spiked to 29.6 after the All-Star break. It was in that second half that Darvish's performance also took off.

"I talked with Tommy: 'I want to focus more on pitches -- not on the tempo,'" Darvish said. "And after that, I feel more comfortable and was getting better results from my starts."

Dating back to the start of the second half last year, Darvish has spun a 2.50 ERA with a MLB-leading 12.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Cardinals, he allowed one run with seven strikeouts and one walk in six innings. That gave him 152 strikeouts against 12 walks in 111 2/3 innings, dating back to last summer's intermission.

Fangraphs does not have pace information for the 2020 season, but Darvish has continued to take his time en route to a 1.80 ERA through five starts. He has 34 strikeouts and five walks in 30 innings.

Darvish's strikeout rate in that span (35.6 percent) is third behind only Gerrit Cole (40.8 percent) and Justin Verlander (40.3 percent), and the Cubs starter's 2.8 percent walk rate leads qualified MLB pitchers.

"Fom the conversations I've had and what I've seen," Cubs manager David Ross said, "Yu Darvish being free to be himself is the magic formula. This guy can really do a lot of things with a baseball and follow a game plan."

Will Bryant remain leadoff man?
Ross values stability at the top of his lineup, especially when it comes to the stars who have impressive track records. That is why Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Báez have remained fixtures in the top three slots this year when healthy.

"You start shuffling the lineup all over the place," Ross said, "and it just screams panic in the locker room. It screams a lack of trust in the players. If we're going to succeed, we need the guys at the top of that lineup to do well. I trust those guys. They've got a track record. They're proven in this game."

With Bryant out with a left wrist issue, Ross has given the red-hot Ian Happ (.313/.439/.627 through 22 games) a test run in the leadoff slot. Bryant (.177/.271/.323 in 16 games) could be back as soon as Friday, making it fair to wonder if Ross might consider a switch at the top.

"When Kris comes back, we'll assess," said the manager. "I don't know where things will be at, but I trust Kris Bryant. I trust Kris Bryant anywhere in the lineup, especially at the top. Do I think his struggles have anything to do with the leadoff spot? No. But if it makes us better at some point to move him down, then I'll talk to Kris about that."

Worth noting
• Prior to Wednesday's twin bill, the Cubs promoted righty Adbert Alzolay from the South Bend (Ind.) alternate training site as the team's 29th man. Alzolay, who appeared in four games for Chicago last season and is MLB Pipeline's No. 7-ranked Cubs prospect, was slated to start Game 2.

• In the opener of Wednesday's doubleheader with St. Louis, Ross gave versatile infielder Nico Hoerner the start at third base. Hoerner has started MLB games at shortstop, second base and center field, but this marked his first professional game at the hot corner.

• Left-hander José Quintana is scheduled to throw his next simulated game on Friday, according to Ross. That could put Quintana (10-day injured list, left thumb) on pace to rejoin Chicago's pitching staff during the next road trip.

• Ross noted that an MRI on outfielder Steven Souza Jr.'s right hamstring revealed a Grade 1 strain. Souza (placed on the 10-day IL Tuesday) might be cleared for baseball activities in a week to 10 days.