Major League Baseball

Chicago Cubs looking like a team that could really use Yu Darvish

Updated Jun. 11, 2021 11:35 a.m. ET

By Pedro Moura
FOX Sports MLB Writer

Maybe the Chicago Cubs will be just fine without Yu Darvish.

They certainly played like it this week at Petco Park, using his replacement, Zach Davies, to trounce the San Diego Padres on Tuesday and besting Darvish himself 3-1 on Wednesday. Maybe Patrick Wisdom’s improbable run will last four more months. Maybe the Cubs’ bullpen of journeyman 30-somethings and Craig Kimbrel will continue taking five- and six-inning starts and turning them into wins.

But it seems more likely that they will end this season regretting their December deal of Darvish for salary relief and prospects that won’t aid their efforts anytime soon. The rest of the roster is fulfilling or exceeding expectations. This team is fielding well, running the bases well, hitting well enough and preserving leads remarkably well.

What it has lacked is exactly what Darvish supplied in a losing effort Wednesday: seven strong innings.

For more up-to-date news on all things Cubs, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Only five times all season has a Cubs starter completed seven innings. Darvish has already done so six times for the Padres. And it’s no case of San Diego overextending him in a tense division competition. Wednesday was only the second time in 2021 that he threw triple-digit pitches.

Nor is it a case of Darvish emerging as some sort of new pitcher this year. He is closely approximating what he accomplished last year on the North Side, and he is reminding fans why he was an apt fit in Chicago after a rough first year.

When he stepped up to bat Wednesday at Petco Park, Darvish employed Anthony Rizzo’s famed, longtime walk-up song, Martin Solveig’s "Intoxicated." His face could not hide his joy as he stared at Rizzo while nestling into the batter’s box.

The Cubs understood the value of Darvish. They simply decided they needed to shed payroll. And while they did, they aimed to thread the needle and continue to compete while resetting their hand for the future.

Credit where credit’s due: They are sewing together a commendable season. They lead the National League Central. Their run differential is 37 runs better than that of any Central peer and fourth in the NL, behind only the West contingent.

Earlier in the week, Cubs manager David Ross told reporters that it was a "nice, comforting feeling" having Darvish take the mound. It is hard to imagine his current rotation fostering that feeling often.

Jake Arrieta, the successful starter Wednesday, guts through his starts. It has been almost a month since he pitched into the sixth inning. Kyle Hendricks, the ostensible ace, has surrendered far too many homers and hits to be trustworthy. By Ross’s estimation, Davies was better Tuesday than he had been all season. It was only the second time in 13 tries that he finished six innings. Adbert Alzolay and Trevor Williams are hurt.

More threading of the needle will be necessary.

The Padres gave up on trying to thread and went all-in this season. They added three top starters to a rotation that looked like what the Cubs' resembles now.

Where has that gotten them? So far, not too far. But 100 games remain. Relievers are volatile. Starters supply the innings that earn teams playoff spots. Where will those innings come from in Wrigleyville? The Cubs do not know.

Stranger things have happened. For at least this season, the Cubs have the hitters to complete the feat in a division that lacks a juggernaut. "We’re showing," Ross said, "this could be a real team that can last the journey."

He might be right. Public projection systems have Chicago somewhere between 40% and 70% likely to qualify for the postseason. The eye test says that Ross has the team playing competently. He has repeatedly pushed the right bullpen buttons. But it would seem more likely that he could be right if he had a top-end starter to turn to when the Cubs’ journey hits the inevitable snags.

For more up-to-date news on all things MLB, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Forget last year’s trade for a second. Based purely on their current merits, the Cubs look exactly like the sort of team that would be in the market for an elite starter next month. And not necessarily a rental — maybe even someone who could buttress an uncertain group in the coming seasons, a veteran at a reasonable rate.

Really, the Cubs look like they should trade for Darvish. It's too bad they decided to get rid of him.

From a baseball perspective, would it not have made more sense to run it back for three more months and then, if the situation warranted, arrange deals for Darvish and Rizzo, maybe even Kris Bryant and Javier Báez, too?

It is too late for this team, but maybe future needle-threading teams can learn from the Cubs' haste. Or maybe they’ll continue streaking and prove it can be done.

Pedro Moura is the national baseball writer for FOX Sports. He most recently covered the Dodgers for three seasons for The Athletic. Previously, he spent five years covering the Angels and Dodgers for the Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. More previously, he covered his alma mater, USC, for ESPNLosAngeles.com. The son of Brazilian immigrants, he grew up in the Southern California suburbs. Follow him on Twitter @pedromoura.