San Diego Padres star pitcher Yu Darvish offered his feeling about Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki after the young pitcher signed with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
Sasaki’s final choice for the 2025 season came down to the Dodgers, Padres and the Toronto Blue Jays, but he ended up signing with Los Angeles. It was disappointing news for San Diego, and Darvish who is a mentor of Sasaki’s.
Despite Sasaki not signing with the Padres, Darvish says he will still be there for the pitcher if he needs any advice.
“We’ll see the season pans out for Roki,” Darvish said to the San Diego Tribune through interpreter Shingo Horie. “He may (have) some adversity that he needs to overcome, some hard times that he needs to overcome, and if he does reach out to me in those moments, obviously I will give him the support that I can give him. I think its important to do that not only as a player, but as a human being.”
Darvish says he was talking to Sasaki on a personal level as he wanted what was best for him. However, after Sasaki signed with the Dodgers, he did reach out to Darvish, the star pitcher revealed.
Despite not landing him, Darvish was happy with the Padres’ pitch to try to land Sasaki.
“It ultimately comes down to what the player wants to do, so you have to live with that,” Darvish said. “As far as what we did, I think we put in a great plan, made our pitch, made our presentation … but things came up a little short for us.”
Darvish is entering the third year of his six-year $108 million deal with the Padres. He went 7-3 with a 3.31 ERA in 16 starts last season.
Darvish is a five-time All-Star.
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