Cubs' Gimenez: Darvish thinks Chicago hates him for DL stints
Yu Darvish's Chicago Cubs career has gotten off to a very rocky start.
Since signing a six-year, $126-million deal with the Cubs in spring training, the 31-year-old has been plagued by injuries and ineffectiveness. He's currently on the 10-day disabled list with triceps tendinitis, and also missed time earlier this month thanks to the flu. As a result, many fans on the north side of Chicago have been quick to turn on Darvish.
Cubs catcher Chris Gimenez, a longtime friend of the right-hander and his personal catcher during their days together in Texas, believes the fans' harsh reactions are getting into Darvish's head.
"I think he thinks that Chicago hates him for going on the DL a couple of times," Gimenez told Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times. "I've tried to portray to him, 'Listen, they're going to love you when we get to October and we're doing the things that we all want to do here, you're the main reason we're doing it and we're riding you all the way through it.'"
Gimenez said Darvish is a sensitive man who reads what fans are saying about him. He's tried to reassure his friend that he'll be able to change the narrative come playoff time.
"He reads Twitter. He reads all that stuff," Gimenez said. "We all do. Honestly, I know it upsets him - and rightfully so.
"I know that it rubs him the wrong way," the catcher continued. "He is champing at the bit to come back and show everybody what he can do. And I think that's just coming off last year - he was so irked at how it ended. He didn't do what his team needed him to do at the end of the year, and he feels the weight of that burden on him and really wants to get out there and prove to everybody that he can be the man.
"So don't worry about them getting mad at you on Twitter in May. Worry about when we get to September, October and they're chanting your name."
When not hurt or sick, Darvish hasn't looked like himself on the mound, posting a 4.95 ERA with 49 strikeouts and 29 walks in 40 innings pitched.