Did Yu Darvish dominate in down year for league?

The next great pitcher from Japan is on the horizon. The Toronto Blue Jays are reported to have submitted the highest bid to the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters for the rights to negotiate with RHP Yu Darvish. Darvish is coming off the best season of his career where he was 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA, 276 strikeouts and 0.82 WHIP in 232 innings over 28 games at the age of 25. 


That started me wondering how well the hitters in the Nippon League in Japan measured up this season. I compared this season's statistics to the previous two seasons. In comparing the qualifiers for the batting championship I found that the number of hitters that had an average at or above .300 was down in both the Central League and the Pacific League. In the Central League there were only four batters to reach the .300 mark in 2011 compared to 14 in 2010 and seven in 2009. In the Pacific League there were only five hitters to reach the .300 mark in 2011 compared to 13 in 2010 and 10 in 2009.


So then I had to check whether the pitchers in general were posting better numbers in 2011. In comparing the qualifiers for earned run average I found that the number of pitchers below the 3.00 mark greatly increased over the previous two seasons in both leagues. In the Central League there were 13 with an ERA below 3.00 with two below 2.00 compared to three below 3.00 in 2010 and eight below 3.00 with one below 2.00 in 2009. In the Pacific League there were also 13 with an ERA below 3.00 with four below 2.00 in 2011 compared to four below 3.00 with one below 2.00 in 2010 and six below 3.00 with one below 2.00 in 2009. Darvish pitched in the Pacific League and his ERA was 1.78 in 2010 and 1.73 in 2009.


Three of the major differences between baseball in the United States and Japan are the fields, balls and strike zones. The playing fields in Japan are smaller than in the United States and four are still undersized even after makeovers. The balls in Japan had been smaller in size and wound tighter than the balls in Japan. The strike zone in Japan is higher and narrower than in the United States so it is a smaller zone. 


It turns out that an equipment change took place in 2011 where Mizuno became the only company to supply the Nippon League with baseballs compared to previous years where multiple manufactures where accepted. The new balls are reported to be low impact due to a lower elasticity rubber that surrounds the cork center. Many players point to this change as the main reason to lower averages and fewer home runs. It appears to be similar to the results from the lower impact bats introduced in NCAA baseball this year in the United States.


As a result Darvish benefited from the equipment change along with the other pitchers.  Yet it is clear that he has been one of the elite pitchers in Japan since he was among the leaders in ERA and strike outs each of the past three seasons. If he does end up with the Blue Jays it will be interesting to watch how he adjusts to the different baseball in MLB. Plus he will have to pitch in a hitter's park since Rogers Centre in Toronto ranks fourth in runs and sixth in home runs against all other MLB parks. No matter what I look forward to seeing if he measures up the the hype.