Japanese pitcher Darvish, who didn’t perform as expected in the Olympic Games, promptly returned to the Fighters with a perfect 5–0 record and two complete games in his five appearances, propelling them to a playoff spot and an epic battle with the Marines.
During the playoffs, Darvish threw a full game win and a complete game shutout, however the Fighters failed to advance to the Japan Series.
In terms of wins, he was beaten by Iwakuma (who had a staggering 21–4 record), but in terms of the Triple Crown, he finished second with a 16–4 record, a 1.88 ERA, and 208 strikeouts during the season.
Even though he had to miss some time due to the Olympics, he still managed to put up an impressive 2.20 ERA, throw more than 200 innings, and strike out more than 200 batters.
No matter who won the Sawamura Award, Darvish became only the second pitcher to meet all seven criteria to not win it (Suguru Egawa was the first in 1982).
Against the Orix Buffaloes in Game 1 of the Climax Series, Darvish allowed nine hits but only one run while striking out 14 in a 4–1 complete-game victory.
Took the mound on October 18 and hurled a full-game shutout in a 5–0 victory over the Saitama Seibu Lions, but the Fighters were unable to advance to the Japan Series for a third straight year, losing 4–2.
When Darvish re-signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters on December 1, the team paid him an additional 70 million yen over the previous year’s contract.
What Country Is Yu Darvish From?
Yu Darvish is from Japan but he has dual citizenship due to his dad. His dad is from Iran.