Yu Darvish will take altered splitter into Monday's game after changing grip midgame in his last start; Jackson Merrill turns in a rare 4-for-4
Yu Darvish is notorious for tinkering with pitch grips and new pitches. Truth is, though, he doesn’t mess around with his spin pitches really at all anymore. But the splitter can be a fickle friend. “It’s always inconsistent,” Darvish said. He wasn’t liking how it was working in the bullpen before Tuesday's game, and he did not throw one in the first inning. So while warming up before the second inning, he shifted how his fingers held the ball and gave it a try.
I appreciate the Padres giving me the opportunity to get up here earlier and get adjusted earlier. I feel like as time goes on it's going to get better. Power will increase — more doubles, more homers. But right now I'm very happy with where I'm at.” Merrill is batting .324/.395/.471 with two doubles and a home run in 38 plate appearances in his first season above Double-A.
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