By Joseph Phillips, Crusader Sports Writer
Chicago Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish now has concerns about playing baseball due to COVID-19.
According to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, the decision to participate in an abbreviated season amid the coronavirus pandemic was not an easy one for the Cubs pitcher. Bastian also mentioned that Darvish has young children at home and made his concerns known about the virus even before baseball started in March.
Darvish was a part of a Sunday afternoon press conference, held in the Cubs’ Zoom room July 12. He wore a mask and expressed that those worries are still present in his mind.
“The pitcher is here, though,” said Bastian, via MLB.com. “He decided to join his teammates, who also have families, and share the daily stress of trying to make the 2020 season happen as safely as possible.”
“Definitely,” said Darvish,who used a translator. “I came here to make sure everybody was doing the right thing.
And then I had it in my mind that, if they’re not, I was ready to go home.” Prior to the 2020 baseball season, Darvish posted a 4.88 ERA with 78 strikeouts, 44 walks and a .775 opponents’ OPS in 66 1/3 innings in the Cubs’ first 60 games. But the right-hander turned an incredible corner in the second half, posting a 2.76 ERA with 118 strikeouts against only seven walks in 81 2/3 innings.
