Yu Darvish has turned his season over the last several starts, the catalyst for which has been an increase in his cutter usage. Formerly just one pitch of many in his expansive repertoire, the cutter has achieved stunning results since turning into his go-to weapon. Not only is it inducing a 32.6% whiff rate, compared to a 13% average in years past, but he’s throwing it much more frequently.
After making up only 10-15% of his pitches over the previous three seasons, the cutter now comprises 36% of Darvish’s offerings. According to FanGraphs’ pitch values, he throws the best cutter in all of MLB.