2 years agoSan Diego Padres right-hander Yu Darvish rebounded in 2022 after a difficult 2021 season. He ended the year with 16 wins, a 3.10 ERA, and 0.95 WHIP. Darvish's strikeout rate was the lowest of his career (25.6%), but he countered that with a career-low walk rate (4.8%). His cutter, four-seamer, and slider, responsible for almost 80% of his offerings, had similar movement compared to past seasons, while his fastball owned a 98th-percentile spin rate. Darvish still posted his lowest whiff rate (25.1%) over his seven campaigns, though, while batters chased his pitches an impressive 30.3% of the time, 30th among qualified pitchers. The five-time All-Star has the stuff to rebound in the strikeout department in 2023 and record something closer to his career 29.3% rate. A spike in fly balls (30.5% and 31% in 2021 and 2022, respectively) with poor barrel rates (7.5% career mark) means Darvish's 1.02 HR/9 from 2022 will inflate next season. However, the 36-year-old still produced a 3.58 xFIP and 3.49 xERA this year, and considering his 3.50 career ERA, he'll be valuable in that category. Further, Darvish's 5.4% walk rate over the past three seasons and the fact that he hasn't allowed a batting average above .235 since 2014 with low ground ball rates the last couple of seasons suggests he'll be a big help in WHIP, even if he doesn't replicate his 2022 mark. He probably won't win 16 games, but the Padres offense will be good enough to keep him above 10. Fantasy managers should be happy drafting Darvish at his ADP of 84.--Spencer Seguin