Yu the man in Houston

The Giants had yet to even get on the scoreboard this season, and amid the impassioned opening rivalry series with the Dodgers, fans of the orange-and-black were already missing pitches. But with the way Yu Darvish was throwing in Houston Tuesday night, Giants fans were changing the channel for a good cause.

Darvish was electric in Houston, retiring the first 26 batters he faced before Astros utility infielder Marwin Gonzalez, with two outs in the ninth, broke up the perfect-game bid with a single through the middle. Not only did Darvish come within one out of becoming the first Japanese pitcher ever to throw a perfect game in Major League Baseball. He also would have become the first pitcher to hurl a perfecto by throwing a game entirely out of the stretch.

When Darvish first emerged as a rookie in 2012, it was clear he possessed phenomenal ability. Not that lofty expectations weren’t abound. As a 22-year-old, Darvish made an impression on many baseball enthusiasts by closing the 2009 World Baseball Classic with the championship-game win over South Korea.

But the challenge Darvish was still to face in his quest to realize his awesome potential was painfully apparent in that WBC finale. The right-hander worked two relief innings, initially entering to start the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead. However, after two walks and a game-tying hit, he blew the save to send the game to extra innings.

Of course, Darvish’s sheer ability to dominate was on display in that game as well, as he still managed to strike out the side in the ninth. And after Japan rallied to take a 5-3 lead in the top of the 10th, Darvish walked the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the frame before striking out two more, including Keun-Woo Jeong, to end it.

Nuke LaLoosh, anyone?

Actually, the best comparison for Darvish is that of a young Tim Lincecum. Obviously, at 6-foot-5, Darvish is of greater stature. But his approach is totally Timmy.

Darvish can throw everything off a crisp fastball. He possesses a vast array of wicked secondary pitches. He throws his game no matter how maddening it is to opposing batters and his own camp alike. And like Lincecum with his two Cy Young Awards, Darvish also owns a pair of prestigious professional honors – in seven seasons as the ace of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, he twice earned Pacific League MVP honors.

When Darvish first made the transition to MLB though, that wild streak immediately alarmed Texas fans. In 29 starts last year, Darvish issued at least one walk in every game he pitched. Even though he won each of the first four games he pitched, amid them he issued 17 walks in 33 innings.

Darvish would go on to walk six batters in a game three different times last season. He ultimately totaled 89 walks throughout his rookie season, but also struck out 221, ranking fifth in the American League, all en route to a 16-9 record while finishing third in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

Tuesday night, after the first couple pitches to Astros leadoff man Jose Altuve, Darvish looked like he was going to resume his wild style. He ran the count to 2-0 to Altuve, before getting a high didn’t-have-to-be strike on a lazy slider. But moving forward from that strike call, Darvish locked in with the best control he’s ever demonstrated on the big-league stage.

Through 8 2/3 innings, Darvish got strike-one on 19 batters, and ran up a three-ball count just four times. He struck out a career-high 14. And yes, to the chagrin of even many an Astros fan, he surrendered one hit. Yet for the first time in his career, Darvish issued no walks.

Incidentally, just as the game was ending in Houston, with the Rangers emerging from the dugout to celebrate a 7-0 win, the Giants got on the board for the first time this season. Fittingly, it was utility infielder Joaquin Arias who singled back through the middle to score Buster Posey in Los Angeles.

Morrow mows down A’s

            Brandon Morrow may be the best Game Tracker pitcher in baseball.

            With the A’s and Blue Jays going at it in Oakland Tuesday, in a couldn’t miss matchup of two former Cal stars, Game Tracker was the only available media visual to the Bay Area market. But, with Morrow at last coming into his own as a bona fide major league ace, it’s a fun ride to simply sit back and watch the radar gun. Well that, along with some of the most consistent and stubborn location, at present, in all of baseball.

            The walk total seems to belie the idea of consistent location, but sometimes owning numbers that don’t equate with the outcome is a defining characteristic of an elite player. And, that’s precisely what Morrow is proving to be. With Toronto’s 5-2 win Tuesday, the big right-hander is off to the best start of his major league career. He lasted six innings, while allowing just one run on four hits.

            Allowing four walks might seem like a blemish. But, not when you back them up with 10 strikeouts. The fifth inning is a prime example of this. Toronto entered the inning up 2-0, but a pair of walks set it up for a Jonny Gomes single to cut the lead to 2-1.

            Then, with one out, Morrow hunkered in to do what he does best. With the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base, he locked up with Seth Smith, pounding him with fastballs off the plate away, ranging from 92-95 mph. Smith did a good job laying off the tempting heat to run the count to 3-1. But, Morrow refused to give in, pounding the same up-and-away zone with the same blazing heat. Smith chased out of the zone on 3-1, before flailing at a 3-2 offering to end the threat with a weak popup to shortstop.

            The at bat was Morrow in a nutshell; painting it black with mid-90s velocity, and expanding the zone incrementally to get hitters to chase. Several A’s batters had words for home plate umpire Ed Hickox about strike calls on the outside corner. But, that’s where Morrow beats you. He’s not trying to steal strikes or expand the plate. He locks up with you and forces you to adjust to his pitch. And, while you’re busy chewing on the umpire, Morrow devours you.

            If Morrow continues to prove he’s ace material, he will likewise prove to be the saving grace of the controversial 2006 draft class. While the top tier has won a combined three Cy Young Awards – 10th overall pick Tim Lincecum in 2008 and 2009, and seventh overall pick Clayton Kershaw in 2011 – there were five burly college studs selected ahead on them in the draft order. Four have been busts of epic proportions, of which only first-overall pick Luke Hochevar is currently part of a big-league rotation.

            And then there’s Morrow. The fifth overall pick by the Mariners, the former Cal ace shot through the farm system to arrive in the majors as a reliever in 2007. By 2008, he was closing games with tepid results, and became a bastion of criticism for the Mariners organization’s failing to properly develop prospects.

            After a lackluster conversion to the rotation in 2009, Seattle got the closer they wanted by trading Morrow to Toronto for Brandon League. Since then, Morrow has been viewed by baseball critics as a reclamation project. It seems, as it now stands, that the contrary is true – that the Blue Jays have been building a big-league stud.

            Incidentally, Morrow’s former Cal staff-mate Tyson Ross took the loss Tuesday. Ross was a second-round pick by the A’s in 2008. And, no, Game Tracker did not do justice to the fourth-inning bomb he surrendered to Adam Lind.

Opening Game 2012

            Ichiro goes 4 for 5 at the Tokyo Dome! Film at 11!

            But, I’d kind of like to see the replay on that infield single in the fourth. Albeit he didn’t get the call, Cliff Pennington made a sensational play on a soft line the one-hopped the hole, flashing a lightning-quick transition to skim a perfect strike off the turf on a bang-bang play at first base. But, Ichiro got the safe call. The Tokyo Dome giveth. The Tokyo Dome taketh away.

            Pennington has become quite a story for the A’s, though. No doubt, it’s the dichotomy. He’s at once a throwback player, as well as the epitome of the modern Moneyball era in Oakland.

            As the poster boy for the A’s billboard adverts in 2011, Pennington seemed an unlikely choice. Yet, across the board, the 2011 A’s were a low-profile ensemble of unlikely players. And, while Pennington hasn’t exactly emerged as a big-league star, he has established himself as one of the premier iron men in the game. Over the last two seasons, he has appeared in 304 games – all but one as the team’s shortstop.

            Defense aside – it’s tough to portray his Gold Glove tools accurately after he led the American League in errors in 2010 – the big vault for Pennington is to the top of the batting order. He impressed in today’s opener out of the No. 2 spot, going 2 for 5 while scoring Oakland’s only run in a 3-1 loss.

            But, you’ve got to wonder if Pennington might be an option to hit third in the lineup. Despite hitting for just a .260 career average, last season he hit .348 with runners in scoring position. And, for what it’s worth, he went 2 for 3 in his only game as Oakland’s No. 3 hitter. In defense of Coco Crisp, though, he didn’t do too badly in that department either, hitting .298 with RISP last year, and career-wise has outslugged Pennington by 30 points.