Could the Phillies Use a Pitcher Like Yu Darvish Next Year?

Watching the game last night, one couldn't help but think that Yu Darvish, who becomes a free agent at the end of the season, was putting on an audition for the 2018 Phillies. By the time Darvish left in the sixth inning, he had allowed only four hits, one walk and one unearned run. He struck out seven, including his 200th of the season.  Despite his short outing, he looked good. 

A pitcher like Darvish just may be what the Phillies need in 2018. 

For the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and the first half of the 2017 season, a major weakness for the Phillies was a lack of offense. But the second half of 2017 saw the promotion of young hitters, such as Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro and Rhys Hoskins. Joining players such as Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr, the Phillies have shown that their young guns can hit and score runs. So much so that the conventional wisdom among Phillies fans is that the team should look for quality pitching in this off-season. The injection of one or two solid veteran pitchers into the rotation just might allow the Phillies to compete for a wild card spot next year. 

As it turns out, there are two solid veteran pitchers who will be available in the off-season as free agents. They are Darvish and Jake Arietta of the Cubs. 

One main argument against signing a pitcher like Darvish and Jake Arietta  is age. Darvish is thirty and Arietta is thirty-one. Surely, baseball has become a game of youth, the argument goes, and if you sign a pitcher in his thirties, he may not be effective long enough to help a club of young hitters reach the World Series. 

But youth isn't always an advantage for pitchers. It can take some pitchers time to master their craft. It took Curt Schilling, for example, until age twenty-five to become an effective major league pitcher. By then, he was on his third major league organization. Schilling didn't even become an All-Star until age thirty. And the performances that made him a play-off legend all took place after age thirty-four. 

Nor is age necessarily the enemy of a pitcher. Steve Carlton won three of his four Cy Young Awards after age thirty. Nolan Ryan continued to pitch no-hitters into his forties. Satchel Paige, likewise, remained an effective pitcher into his forties. 

Darvish and Arietta, therefore, remain possible targets for the Phillies over the Winter. The question remains whether to take the risk of a large contract in the hope that the best years for Darvish and Arietta remain ahead of them. 

William J. Kovatch, Jr. 

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