NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS DODGERS

October 5, 2024

Yu Darvish

Dodger Stadium

San Diego Padres

Pregame 1 Press Conference

Q. A few years ago when you joined the Padres you kind of described the Dodgers as the kind of team you hoped the Padres could be one day. I was wondering, a few years down the road now how do you view the Dodgers?

YU DARVISH: It's needless to say how good of a team the Dodgers are. It's our goal, the Padres goal, to beat this good team.

Q. Shohei has described you as a childhood hero. Can you describe what your relationship is like and any memories meeting him the first time or hearing about him the first time?

YU DARVISH: Yes, as I can recall, I think it was 2014 when we first went together for dinner. After that, we would work out here and there in the offseason and we'd go to have dinner from time to time. So I had been keeping in contact with Shohei throughout the years.

Q. Just following that up, when he says that you're one of the reasons that he wanted to get into baseball, what do you think about that?

YU DARVISH: Obviously it's an honor to be mentioned like that. I mean, he's one of the best players in the league right now. And someone like that saying something to you, it's a big honor.

Q. How do you view that match-up with Shohei, how challenging is that for you?

YU DARVISH: No, it's not something just specifically talking about facing Shohei. I'm facing all nine Dodgers hitters. My main focus is to get all of them out, not just Shohei.

Going into the game, I just want to keep the focus, keep the concentration at a high level and execute my pitches.

Q. Looked like we saw you in right field last time in LA, looked like you were talking pitching with Shohei. Just wondering how often you guys keep up and how important the fraternity is for you guys who came over from Japan?

YU DARVISH: I don't necessarily remember exactly what we were talking about in right field the other day, but we come from the same country, obviously. We come from the same culture. We're here in a foreign country playing baseball. And we catch up here and there. So that's kind of the answer to it.

Q. What's it say about the starting pitching depth that this team has developed, you lose Joe Musgrove and you're still positioned fairly well in the series, it appears? And then how does this impact you guys moving forward in terms of the rotation?

YU DARVISH: Obviously it's a big blow, Joe not being able to pitch in this postseason. But we've got guys like Perez. We even have guys like Waldron, Vasquez, I think, in the Taxi Squad. So I think we can match up well against these guys. So looking forward to the challenge.

Q. I think it's been eight or nine days since your last start. What's that allowed you to do, and what have you done throwing-wise? What's your schedule been like in that time?

YU DARVISH: I was actually in the bullpen in the Wild Card Series. So it was a little bit difficult for me to kind of be in that role and try to adjust to that role, but I didn't pitch and we got a couple days off. So I was able to recover well, rest my arm, shoulders. So I feel like I've been able to prepare well leading up to today.