Yu Darvish Recruited Yuki Matsui to Padres
During his introductory video press conference call, new San Diego Padres reliever Yuki Matsui revealed that starter Yu Darvish helped recruit him to the team.
Darvish, 37, is nine years Matsui's senior and arguably the best pitcher ever to make the leap from Japan to Major League Baseball. There might be no better spokesperson for what San Diego could offer.
“Yu mentioned the city of San Diego is beautiful,” Matsui said. “The weather is top notch … and he did also mention … that the stadium is filled every night, and it’s just super awesome to be playing in a full stadium."
San Diego ranked third in MLB in average home attendance last season, at 40,389. The Padres were also fourth in road attendance, averaging 31,552 per game away from Petco Park. That made for a great stadium atmosphere.
“That’s something that’s very motivating,” Matsui said.
Matsui will be given opportunities to work in the late innings, something he has done for the majority of his career. Matsui worked very hard to get to this point — very few Asian players are posted every winter — and he wants to prove that he belongs in the major leagues.
“It wasn’t really much of a ‘wait’ for me, like struggling, (waiting) to come here,” Matsui said. “… I really had to get ready and hone my craft to be a player to be wanted by these big-league teams. I was working on my craft, building my body and doing all that I can so I can make it up here.”
The Padres are very excited about their new reliever, and the hope is he can catch onto the United States game quickly. Assuming his stuff translates well, the Padres might have gotten a steal with this signing.
