Game 5 of the NLDS, just as we all thought.

The Padres and Dodgers will meet at Chavez Ravine one final time in 2024. The loser’s season comes to an abrupt end.

After San Diego failed to summon some 2022 deja vu in Game 4, they will be sending Yu Darvish out to the mound with their season hanging in the balance.

Thankfully for the Friars, Darvish might be L.A.’s biggest threat at advancing to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 2021.

See Yu in 24 hours ⏳#FightForTheFaithful @faridyu pic.twitter.com/ccqrjwx5Bl

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 11, 2024

Darvish is coming off a masterful performance in a drama-filled Game 2, where he threw seven innings of one-run baseball.

Although his strikeout totals weren’t quite Darvish-esque, the command and location of his pitches allowed the San Diego defense to make spectacular plays all around the diamond.

His most impressive moment, perhaps, came in his seventh and final inning of work when an approximately 10-minute delay was enforced due to fans throwing projectiles onto the field. The delay could have drowned any adrenaline or momentum Darvish carried, but he was unfazed by the fiasco, getting Gavin Lux to fly out to end the frame.

💫#FightForTheFaithful #NLDS pic.twitter.com/6L9ZqTdHEc

— ダルビッシュ有(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) October 8, 2024

“Pitching is a disruption of a hitter’s balance and timing. Yu is really good at that. The back-and-forth is the timing. The in-and-out is the balance. And he was able to do that masterfully tonight.” Padres manager Mike Shildt said postgame.

His comments are a reflection of just how dominant Darvish can be. He possesses 11 to 12 different pitches with different variations for all of them. Per Baseball Savant, Darvish ranks in the 84th percentile for Breaking Run-Value and 78th percentile for Offspeed Run-Value.

In his two postseason runs with the Padres, Darvish owns a 3-1 record and a 2.53 ERA.

He’s proven to not just be a valuable arm, he’s also a pitcher who meets the moment. In Game 1 of the 2022 National League Wild Card Series, Darvish faced a 102-win New York Mets team and completely silenced their offense, pitching seven brilliant innings while only giving up one run and striking out four batters. In Game 2 of the 2022 NLDS, he held the 111-win Dodgers to three runs through five innings to help flip the series back to Petco Park, where the Padres would ultimately seal the series in four games.

Through interpreter Shingo Horie, Darvish spoke to the media the evening before his highly anticipated Game 5 start.

When asked about his experience in elimination games, “I can’t really recall how I was on these elimination games. So I don’t think I can give you a good answer on that. But maybe it’s the experience that I have accumulated up until today that is making me feel calm right now.” Darvish stated.

Not only will this be Darvish’s most important start in a Padres uniform, but will also be a cultural phenomenon. The Dodgers announced that Yoshinobu Yamamoto will counter Darvish in the winner-take-all game. Both Darvish and Yamamoto were teammates on the World Baseball Classic Champion, Team Japan, in 2023. Yamamoto, one of the most coveted Japanese stars to be posted by the NPB, signed a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers entering the 2024 season—the largest pitching contract of all time.

“I think it’s a great thing that we’re able to go out with each other in an NLDS game. On a personal level, really good friends with him as well. Just for us to be able to go out there and pitch in the same playoff game, it means a lot.” Darvish said when asked about facing off against Yamamoto. It’s no doubt all of Japan will have their eyes feasted to their television screens.

Yu Darvish vs Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Two of the best ever from Japan. Game 5.

Cinema. pic.twitter.com/IyOEZ6MF62

— Robbie Hyde (@gingersnaphyde) October 11, 2024

For the Friars, the most important game in recent franchise history awaits.

For Major League Baseball and its fans, the first-ever postseason game between two Japanese-born pitchers is here.

The Veteran vs. The Rookie. The Legend vs. The Phenom.

This is the match-up that has been talked about since the beginning of the 2024 campaign. The fate of San Diego’s season rests in the hands of one Yu Darvish.

Armando Dueñas Jr.

Armando Duenas is a 24 year-old aspiring journalist. He is a native San Diegan who grew up in the South Bay area. A lifelong Padres fan and baseball enthusiast, he resides just about fifteen minutes from PETCO Park, where his love of the game began.