Why Did Yu Darvish Close The Semi?

Why was Oswalt left on the mound so long?

Look, neither Davey Johnson or Tatsunori Hara will have any influence on Oswalt's or Darvish's future.

I think the only reason is Hara had decided on Iwakuma to start the final. Iwakuma has been great and Darvish had a poor outing (by his standards) against Korea last time. No, Darvish will definitely not be converted to a closer.

But why not Fujikawa?

Because it's a one-game elimination game. Whatever is working should take the precedence. It's not that hard to realize that there are different ways of playing those games.

I'm asking as to whether Fujikawa was considered not fit or something. "Whatever is working should take the precedence" - what does that mean? It was a straight choice between pitchers, and I was surprised.

Congrats to Nippon though on the win today! Darvish came through (just about!) in the end, as did Ichiro.

- I'm asking as to whether Fujikawa was considered not fit or something.

He didn't pitch. Doesn't answer your question?

- "Whatever is working should take the precedence" - what does that mean?

Past outings of Darvish and Fujikawa. Hara thought Darvish would work. Is this clear now?

Why on earth would how Hara uses him in the WBC have any bearing at all on how Nashida or any future Fighters' manager would use him in a normal game? I don't understand this logic at all.

Almost all of the pitchers sent to the WBC are normally starters, who were used as relievers for this series. Even if Mahara's still regaining his feet, I am pretty sure that the Hawks are not going to start using Sugiuchi as the closer instead.

Perhaps Darvish was used in the semi-final because it was his son's birthday. That was one of the sub-headlines on the front page of today's (March 24) Nikkan Sports (paper edition). Hara-kantoku has made moves for stranger reasons.

Not sure if anyone answered yet, but was something wrong with Fujikawa? I think I only saw him pitch once. He's been invincible as a closer the last couple years, except of course against Tyrone Woods! I know there were a lot of options, but thought Kyuji would have been used more.

Fujikawa had an injury early in spring training and I'm not convinced he's recovered. He didn't look like himself in the games he appeared in.

Thanks everyone who's responded with reasonable speculation and theories, despite infimum's rude response.

Michael, that would be a strange reason indeed!

-[...] despite infimum's rude response.

Please respond to me directly if you want to point out what was wrong with my answers to your questions.

OK, just hope Fujikawa isn't suffering from "Brad Lidge Disease." It took him a long time to recover from Pujols' homer in the 2005 playoffs. Judging from the look of shock after Woods' homer, it might take Kyuji some time to get his edge back as well. Plus, Okada over-used him the past couple years, so hope that isn't catching up with him.

Fujikawa looked very, very hittable in the early rounds in the WBC. Against Cuba, he only hit 91-92 on the radar gun and had a couple of liners against him. Some guys need more time to get into mid-season shape and Fujikawa does not have a good WBC history, as in 2006 A-Rod had a game-winning hit against Fujikawa in the infamous 'Bob Davidson' game.

Just be thankful that Fujikawa isn't a Giant, or else Hara may have been tempted to play him regardless of performance (I looking at you OGASAWARA).

I think the main reason Fujikawa wasn't used in the final round, is because he doesn't look like himself throughout the tournament. He was one of those who had a rather tough time adjusting to the WBC ball.

It was mentioned many times in the past that the MLB ball is more slippery than the NPB ball, and some pitchers have the problem finding the seams or having the same grip they want. For Fujikawa his fastball has no life, and he wasn't able to rush it up there when he needed it.

I think it was a good idea for Hara to not use Fujikawa. With the game on the line, it was too risky to use Fujikawa. In fact, Darvish said he actually was able to generate more power with the MLB mound, which is much harder than how they are in Japan, thus being able to throw up to 100mph on his fastball.