San Diego, CA–The San Diego Padres have signed right-hander Yu Darvish to a new six-year contract through the 2028 season, President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller said.
In 30 starts for the Padres last season, Darvish went 16-8 with a 3.10 ERA (67 ER, 194.2 IP), .207 opponents average, and 197 strikeouts to just 37 walks (5.32 SO/BB ratio). His career-low 0.95 WHIP (148 H) was the lowest single-season mark in franchise history (min. 30 starts), besting Randy Jones’ 0.99 WHIP in 1976. Darvish led the National League with 25 quality starts and threw 6.0 or more innings in 28 of his 30 outings, tied for most in the majors with the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole. On September 2, he surpassed the 3,000-strikeout mark in his 17th professional season between Japan (2005-11, 1,250 SO) and Major League Baseball (2012-22, 1,788 SO). Darvish was named NL Pitcher of the Month for September, collecting a 5-1 record and 1.85 ERA (8 ER, 39.0 IP) in six starts with 44 strikeouts and only eight walks. Darvish also made four postseason starts for the Padres, going 2-1 with a 2.88 ERA (8 ER, 25.0 IP) and three quality starts. He tossed a postseason career-high 7.0 innings in both Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on October 7 at New York and Game 1 of the NLCS on October 18.
A five-time MLB All-Star (2012-14, 2017, 2021), Darvish has posted a 95-75 career record with a 3.50 ERA (579 ER, 1488.0 IP), 1.13 WHIP, .217 opponents average, and 1,788 strikeouts in 242 career Major League starts between the Texas Rangers (2012-17), Los Angeles Dodgers (2017), Chicago Cubs (2018-20) and Padres (2021-22). He has finished in the Top 10 of Cy Young voting four times in his career (9th in AL in 2012, 2nd in AL in 2013, 2nd in NL in 2020, and 8th in NL in 2022). Since making his MLB debut in 2012, Darvish ranks 4th among qualifying starters in opponents average, 6th in strikeouts, and 11th in fWAR (32.3). Darvish appeared in seven seasons with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of the Nippon Professional Baseball League, going 93-38 with a 1.99 ERA (281 ER, 1268.1 IP), 0.98 WHIP, 55 CG, 18 SHO and 1,250 SO in 167 games (164 starts). He was also a member of Japan’s second World Baseball Classic championship team in 2009, going 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 13.0 innings.
