Current and Former Texas Rangers, Yu Darvish and C.J. Wilson to Square Off on Mound

Published: 11^th May 12 12:41 pm

Marian Hinton
Texas Sports Blogger

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Tom Szczerbowski-US PRESSWIRE

When news first spread that not only would the Texas Rangers be losing their ace pitcher, C.J. Wilson last summer, but they would be losing him to their division rival, Los Angeles Angels, the Rangers knew that they had to do something to respond.

So respond they did.

The Rangers brought in the highly sought-after pitching sensation from Japan, Yu Darvish, signing him for a whopping $60 million.

Tonight, as the Angles and the Rangers meet, the two will square off against one another for the first time in the regular season.

Heading into the series, the American League-leading Texas Rangers (21-11) hold a 7 game lead over the Angels (14-18) in the AL West division.

Though Yu’s team certainly has the upper-hand so far this season (though it is admittedly very early), the two pitchers’ numbers appear to be quite similar through six starts for each of them.

After a rough start in his first game out, Darvish settled down and has since become the pitcher that most believed he could be-at least for now. He even earned AL Rookie of the Month honors for April. So far this season, in 39 innings, he has a 2.54 ERA and a 4-1 record.

Former Ranger, C.J. Wilson is 4-2 this year with an ERA of 2.61 in 41 innings pitched.

Here is a look at their stat comparison at this point in the season:

	C.J. Wilson	Yu Darvish
Innings	41	39
ERA	2.54	2.61
WHIP	1.04	1.46
Earned Runs	12	11
Hits	28	36
Home Runs	3	2
Strikeouts	39	44
Walks	15	21

As you can see, both pitchers have had a good season to this point. Though it is far too early to tell which pitcher will have the more successful season, however, most Texas Rangers fans will tell you that they are very happy so far with Yu Darvish and the potential that he brings to the team. They are hoping that he can do something that C.J. Wilson couldn’t —give the Texas Rangers their first World Series championship.

There is still a long way to go, but tonight’s match-up should be fun to watch, nonetheless.

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