Differing circumstances for pitching pair not toiling on opposite sides of Chi

Yu Darvish is the Japanese/Iranian star ballplayer whom the Chicago Cubs picked up for this season – expecting him to be a star pitcher who helps the North Side ballclub get back to a second World Series in three years.

One-time Japanese star; now just a Cub

Instead, he’s become the 2018 baseball bust for Chicago – no wins and three losses in six games he’s pitched, with an awful earned run average of 6.00 thus far.

ADMITTEDLY, IT’S STILL early in the 2018 season (not quite one quarter of the way through a 162-game schedule), but now he’s on the disabled list. And for something that is bound to make him the subject of mockery from many a true baseball fan.

Yu has the flu.

Yes, Darvish missed his Tuesday start against the Miami Marlins after being diagnosed by a doctor with the parainfluenza virus. Which is the way the Cubs made sure to word it on their official statement confirming that Darvish is now on the 10-day disabled list – retroactive to Monday.

We won’t see Darvish pitch again this week or early next. We definitely won’t see him pitch when the Chicago White Sox make their annual trip Friday through Sunday to the North Side ballpark for an interleague series.

OF COURSE, WE’RE not going to see Danny Farquhar pitch either. In fact, we won’t see him pitch again at all during 2018.

But unlike Darvish who has the flu and (admittedly) probably feels a little bit drowsy and has nausea, Farquhar has a much more serious condition to cope with.

Farquhar is the ballplayer last month who was pitching for the White Sox and collapsed in the team dugout.

Could he be back for 2019?

Rushed to the Rush University Medical Center (located not far from the site of the original West Side Grounds where the Cubs used to play ball more than a century ago), he was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage caused by a ruptured brain aneurysm.

BUT WE LEARNED this week that Farquhar was released from the hospital and is now resting at home with family.

The bad news is that his neurosurgeon says he has therapy to undergo in coming months, and that he’s through playing baseball for 2018.

But the statement the White Sox issued also made sure to say that the neurosurgeon believes there’s a good chance that Farquhar someday will take to a pitcher’s mound and play baseball again.

As in he could be back for Spring Training of 2019 in Glendale Heights, Ariz. He could be back with the White Sox at some point when all the supposedly star prospects will have developed and could be a part of a contending Chicago White Sox ball club.

THE POSITIVE SPIN for Danny is that he may miss out on a 2018 season that, in all likelihood, is going to be one of drudgery on the Sout’ Side of Chicago – a .281 winning percent and fewer than 10 victories during the season as of Tuesday.

If (and when) that day comes when Farquhar is called upon by the White Sox to pitch, I’m sure it will be a moment of a great emotional joy for fans everywhere (except, of course, for those deluded enough to root, root, root for the Cubbies).

Perhaps it is one of the reasons why I’m finding the White Sox more appealing, even in this particular era when the Cubs are deluding themselves into thinking they’re a ball club of historic significance like the New York Yankees and some fans are buying into the hype that it will be interesting to see how the Farquhar saga plays out.

Won't see either Danny or Yu this weekend at Wrigley

As opposed to the Cubs, whose “big money” pitcher is missing some ballgames because he has a headache and “the sniffles.”

  -30-

Cubs still in the running for baseball ambidextrous (sort of) man from Japan

Shohei Ohtani shook up the world of professional baseball this week when he let it be known that he’s not the least bit interested in playing for the New York Yankees, or just about any other ballclub along the East Coast.

Can Ohtani continue to do it all in U.S.?

But among the few teams that the 23-year-old Japanese native is willing to consider is the Chicago Cubs – a move that still shocks me, even though there’s really nothing about the whole Ohtani process that ought to be considered predictable.

OHTANI, FOR THOSE not in the know, is the star of the Nippon Ham Fighters of Fukuoka who now wants to take a crack at playing professionally in the United States (a move that, if it works out, will result in Ohtani making many millions of dollars more in coming years than he would playing ball in Japan).

What makes Ohtani different from all the other Japanese ballplayers who have come to this country during the past two decades is that Ohtani is a pitcher who also is capable of hitting. A move that the Nippon Ham ballclub has indulged him in, and one that Ohtani has said he expects any U.S. team he plays for to do as well.

As I understand things, the list of ball clubs that Ohtani is interested in considering are all the teams along the West Coast (except for Oakland, Calif.). Although he’s also willing to contemplate the Texas Rangers, and our very own Cubbies.

The Babe a one-time star pitcher ...

Under the rules that exist in which U.S. ball clubs are limited as to the amount of money they can spend on trying to acquire foreign talent, the Rangers are the team that could actually offer Ohtani the largest salary.

WHEREAS CUBS MANAGER Joe Maddon has enough of a reputation for screwball on-field tactics that perhaps Ohtani feels he’d get the least bit of resistance pitching and hitting for the Cubs than he would any other team.

... who gave it up to be a slugger

It certainly wouldn’t be because of the money. Those rules in place would limit the Cubs to a $300,000 bonus they could offer Ohtani for signing with them. Which would be the same amount the Chicago White Sox could have offered.

But the White Sox have blown much of their international money on acquiring Cuban talent. Perhaps that made the White Sox seem a little too foreign to a Japanese kid. Although perhaps it means the Sox will be the team of choice amongst the Havana baseball set?

Can Ohtani match feats of Double Duty?

How much would the Cubs – a team that still thinks it’s a legitimate contender for a National League championship following their 2016 success, even though they fell short in 2017 – be willing to muck up the structure of their team just to accommodate Ohtani?

THEN AGAIN, WITH the Cubs expecting to lose pitcher Jake Arrieta, perhaps they think Ohtani is his replacement in the starting rotation – while also serving as a spare outfielder.

It will be curious to see if Ohtani is capable of pulling off his double duties of pitching and hitting. Considering that most pitchers stink with a bat and that American League teams don’t even let their pitchers touch lumber (they have the designated hitter), it will be a radical move.

Consider that even the great Babe Ruth (whose name is repeatedly brought up by people discussing Ohtani) ultimately gave up pitching so he could focus on being the big bat in the Yankees lineup. Is Ohtani really unique enough to pull off this move? Or will Ted Radcliffe of the old Negro league Chicago American Giants, who was both pitcher and catcher, retain the uniqueness that gave him the nickname “Double Duty?”

Will we wind up seeing him make a decision come June to focus on one side, or the other, of baseball?

THERE IS ONE aspect I’m pondering about the whole Ohtani affair. Many have speculated that because of the designated hitter, he’d be better off playing for an American League team.

How harshly will Yankee 'bleacher creatures' react?

Yet I’m wondering now with Ohtani having openly snubbed the Yankees, if he winds up playing for another American League team (Seattle or the Los Angeles Angels?), will he wind up receiving the ultimate razzing from the ballpark boo-birds if he shows up at Yankee Stadium.

He could wind up receiving equally hostile reactions from Oakland fans who would be disappointed that they were the one West Coast team he wants nothing to do with. Or the Boston Red Sox faithful who, while enjoying the Yankee snub, probably resent that he doesn’t think they were worthy.

Or, for that matter, the White Sox, whose fans may wonder why this young punk ballplayer would consider the Cubs, and not them, particularly since neither team is capable of offering him much in the way of money. Ohtani may wind up being better off playing in the National League, as he’s likely offended too many American League people.

  -30-

Wishing Buehrle back on Sout’ Side

It’s early in the baseball season. Nowhere near enough ball games have been played to be able to say a team is doing well. Or poorly.

But I couldn’t help but notice the record of pitcher Mark Buehrle in Toronto (what with four wins, no losses and an earned run average of 0.64) and wish the Blue Jay were still wearing black socks.

THE FORMER CHICAGO White Sox pitcher achieved enough here during his career (a pair of no-hitters, a World Series appearance and all those Opening Day starts) that he’s always going to be remembered primarily for what he did here. His stints with Miami, Toronto and any other ball club he ever pitches for (maybe someday the St. Louis Cardinals he rooted for as a kid) will be the add-ons of a professional career that is very impressive for a guy who was drafted in the 38^th round out of a junior college in Missouri where he played ball for a year.

But you have to admit he’s had an impressive season’s start – most recently pitching just over seven shutout innings Saturday night against the Cleveland Indians.

Starting pitching may not be the White Sox’ weakness this season. But you have to wonder how much better the South Side ball club would have in 2014 if that 0.64 ERA were done here.

For those of you who don’t comprehend, an earned run average figures how many runs he gives up in a typical nine-inning stretch. Thus far, he gives up about two-thirds of a run.

HE’S BOUND TO have a bad outing eventually that will shoot his ERA up to a more normal-sounding figure (something that starts with a “3.” rather than a “0.”

I’d definitely think that 2013 wouldn’t have been quite as atrocious if Buehrle had been around, ensuring that losing streaks didn’t get quite so long if he had been pitching.

But ’14 is ’14. The White Sox seem to be on their way to being a team that will win about 80 ballgames – and no more.

Although as evidence of how early it is in the season, Buehrle’s Blue Jays ball club is 10-8 and in first place in their division (tied with the New York Yankees), while the White Sox are 8-10 and in fourth place – only a half-game ahead of the Cleveland ball club that Buehrle beat.

ON THIS EASTER Sunday (when perhaps we should have higher ideals in mind than the doings of a mediocre ball club), we should wait for the next significant holiday (Memorial Day) before we start seriously paying attention to the standings.

Maybe then, Buehrle himself won’t have quite so impressive a record. Or maybe he’ll be even better.

And maybe, by chance, the 35-year-old who likely has another two or three seasons left may wind up returning to Chicago for a career-ending stint that would make some fans happy while waiting for the White Sox to put together a team that would actually contend for a league championship.

Which I still suspect will come to the South Side and Bridgeport before it manages to work its way up to Lake View.

  -30-

Baseball is more than a game, that some don’t seem to want to actually play

I can’t help but be repulsed by the mentality that seems to think something wise was done this weekend by the Chicago Cubs and the Washington Nationals; both of whom took their best pitchers and decided to end their seasons now – even though there is nearly a month to go with in the season.

It bothers me more in the case of the Nationals than the Cubs. The latter ballclub isn’t accomplishing much of anything this season – and the presence (or lack thereof) of Jeff Samardzija isn’t going to radically change anything.

BUT THE NATIONALS are actually a first-place ballclub in their division. They could very well be a playoff-bound ballclub.  It really would be pathetic if Washington were to have a ballclub make its first World Series appearance since 1933 WITHOUT its top pitcher.

What happens if this IS the Nationals’ year, and pitcher Stephen Strasburg winds up never pitching in a World Series because his team doesn’t make it back? Strasburg could wind up being just like Frank Thomas – whose only appearance on a World Series team was entirely from the bench. Injuries kept him from actually playing much of 2005, and not at all during the playoffs or World Series.

Even the great Walter Johnson managed to pitch in the 1924 World Series for Washington (being the winning pitcher in the seventh and final game).

For Strasburg, it is a shame. But it was one brought on by physical injuries.

IN THE CASE of Strasburg, it seems to be a case of a short-sighted ballclub gambling on a future that may never arrive.

The fact that the Nationals ballclub would think this is some sort of strategic move is evidence that professional baseball has changed – and not necessarily for the best!

It is part of the modern-day strategy that believes in pitch counts and innings limits, and ignoring that a pitcher who truly is worth anything is capable of reaching limits beyond the levels that too many managers artificially set.

The theory with Strasburg is that he was recovering from anterior cruciate ligament surgery (the proper name for the procedure originally tried by Tommy John back in the mid-1970s) meant to rebuild his arm after he suffered what once would have been a career-ending injury.

THIS WAS SUPPOSED to be the year that he got limited use, with future seasons intended to be when he would have his full comeback.

In the case of Samardzija, it would seem that team officials figure this was the first time he ever really pitched a full season of baseball in the major leagues (more innings this year than his whole career to date combined).

Does this mean the Cubs believe that NO one is capable of pitching a full season of professional baseball?

It’s definitely a long ways away from 1974 when Nolan Ryan pitched 332 2/3 innings for the California Angels, or when Wilbur Wood of the Chicago White Sox kept getting sent out to pitch every four games even though he nearly lost 20 games that season.

IN WOOD’S CASE, he also managed to win 20 games (with a 3.46 earned run average that season). He was the best arm on a mediocre ballclub, which used him repeatedly because it was their best attempt to win ballgames.

Nowadays, Wood would have been shut down to “spare” him some embarrassment – not taking into account the fact that Wood would have been more embarrassed by not pitching.

Now I know some claim that these innings restrictions can add on seasons to a ballplayer’s career. They’ll cite cases like Sandy Koufax or Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Koufax suffered from arthritis and retired at age 30 because his arm couldn’t take the strain any longer, while Valenzuela’s last years as a ballplayer were incredibly mediocre. Both will claim they were overused by the Dodgers, and could have lasted longer had their pitching stints been rationed out.

YET I’M NOT convinced. It’s as though some people think they can erase the chance of the fluke incident that cannot be statistically predicted.

In fact, I’d like to think that Strasburg these days is disappointed that he’s not pitching in the heat of a pennant race – even though Nationals’ management has said uncertainty over whether he would continue to pitch was actually causing him more mental anguish.

A part of me would like to think that Strasburg and Samardzija are capable of “sucking it up,” bearing down and going for another month.

Because there really is no guarantee that there will be a “big game” in the future that he’s being saved for by shutting him down for now.

  -30-