Los Angeles Times:

In the afternoon before his first start as a Dodger, a 6-0 dismantling of the New York Mets, [Japanese-Iranian] Yu Darvish received an indoctrination in the methodology of baseball’s best team.

At the team hotel in Manhattan, Darvish met with general manager Farhan Zaidi, who advised him on how to attack that night’s hitters. Zaidi opened a laptop and revealed how Darvish could optimize his arsenal, altering the locations and pitch sequences he utilized during five seasons with Texas.

“I was like, ‘Is that really going to work?’” Darvish said through his interpreter, Hideaki Sato. “But it worked. I really put the trust in him.”

The union between Darvish and the Dodgers requires faith. The Dodgers (77-32) believed Darvish was worth the three prospects needed to pry him from the Rangers. And Darvish will need to embrace the suggestions of his new employers. In their first game together, both parties lived up to the hype.

“I was really worried, because the Dodgers have such great pitchers,” Darvish said. “I didn’t want to pitch bad in the first outing.”

He did not. Despite residual jitters from his last outing as a Ranger, Darvish silenced the Mets for seven innings and piled up 10 strikeouts. His new teammates taxed Mets starter Jacob deGrom and bullied the relievers who replaced him. Buoyed by home runs from Chris Taylor, Yasiel Puig and Chase Utley, Darvish led from the moment he stepped on the field...

Go to link