In August, Yu Darvish made five starts and posted a 1.09 ERA and 1.030 WHIP. He walked seven and struck out 40 in 33 innings and the Cubs won all five games.
For that performance, Yu gets an honor:
Congrats to @faridyu, the NL Pitcher of the Month! pic.twitter.com/cV9x8DUBpJ
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 2, 2020
From July 12, 2019 through the end of August 2020, Darvish has made 20 starts covering 114⅔ innings. He’s allowed 86 hits and 14 walks in those innings for a 0.872 WHIP, and given up 29 earned runs for a 2.28 ERA. This is by far the best stretch of Darvish’s career and it’s clear the Cubs now have the “ace” they thought they were getting before the 2018 season.
The previous Cub to win a Pitcher of the Month award was Cole Hamels, who got the honor in August 2018 after posting a 0.69 ERA with 38 strikeouts in six starts that month. Jon Lester also won a Pitcher of the Month award in 2018, in June, posting a 1.12 ERA that month in five starts.
Congratulations to Yu for this honor and let’s hope his September is even better!