San Diego Padres’ pitcher Yu Darvish added to his highlight film Tuesday after throwing a ridiculous slider in game one of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) against the Philadelphia Phillies.
A video from behind the home plate umpire shows just how much Darvish’s 82 mph slider moved on its way to making Phillies’ right fielder Nick Castellanos swing and miss it. The break of the ball is incredible.
Yu Darvish’s Slider with Tail.
16 inches of horizontal break (and a look at the initial path and where it ended up). pic.twitter.com/bycGUgukdJ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 19, 2022
Darvish’s pitch was nasty. Seeing a slider thrown with that much movement on it is not something you witness everyday.
There was no way Castellanos was going to make contact with that ball after it broke so drastically to the left before reaching the plate. (RELATED: Nola Brothers Make Baseball History Facing Off In League Championship Game)
Despite the nasty pitch, Darvish was marked as the losing pitcher of the game after Phillies’ Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber took two of his pitches deep to left and right field on home runs to defeat San Diego 2-0 in game one.
Bryce Harper hits his fourth home run this postseason, his new playoff career high. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/HoJY3JoHhd
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) October 19, 2022
488 feet! 120 mph! Kyle Schwarber, oh my goodness. 😱 pic.twitter.com/Mh4VGR4E2B
— MLB (@MLB) October 19, 2022
Ever since the Phillies went up on the Padres 1-0, San Diego has fought back to tie the series after beating Philly 8-5 Oct. 19.
Hopefully, Padres’ head coach Bob Melvin will insert Darvish into the lineup one more time during this series to throw more of these awe-inspiring sliders.