Yu Darvish was born August 16, 1986.
Yu Darvish comes from Habikino, Osaka, Japan, where he attended Tohoku High School, which has produced other MLB players like former Seattle Mariners and Yokohama BayStars closer Kazuhiro Sasaki.
Despite the fact that many Major League teams wanted to draft the young ace, Darvish decided to stay in his home country and play baseball in Japan. Darvish was selected by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in the first round of the 2004 NPB amateur draft.
After a somewhat average rookie season in Japan, Darvish had a breakout year in 2006, where he earned a 12–5 record with 115 strikeouts, 2.89 ERA and Asia Series Most Valuable Player honors.
Darvish would continue his dominance in the NPB, gaining a reputation as the league's best ace, while also earning the Pacific League MVP award in 2007 and 2009.
However, in 2012, Darvish decided to make the move to the MLB, where the Texas Rangers signed him.
While he wasn't quite as successful in the MLB as he was in Japan, Darvish was quickly recognized as one of the best pitchers in the American League. Darvish was named an All-Star that year after posting ten wins and five losses with a 3.59 ERA up to the All-Star break.
Darvish really hit his stride in 2013 when he almost pitched a perfect game against the Houston Astros until giving up a single 2/3 through the ninth inning. He would finish the year with 277 strikeouts in just 209 2/3 innings, and was runner-up in the Cy Young award voting to Max Scherzer of the Tigers.
In 2014, Darvish became fastest pitcher to ever reach 500 career strikeouts in terms of innings pitched, and was yet again named an All-Star for the third time in his career.
Unfortunately, Darvish had to undergo Tommy John surgery during spring training camp in 2015 to repair his torn UCL. He has been forced to miss the entire 2015 season.
