..............

Q.  Okay, what is the mainframe's read on Darvish?  What does he throw?

A.  You really put him in a David Cone category -- the bread and butter being a hot (not blazing) fastball and a tilted power slider.  Then he's got at least three more pitches after that, as Cone did.

SLIDER.  The first pitch on this video shows you the David Cone slider.  At 2:33 you see the same pitch.

This is sort of the ultimate strikeout pitch righty-on-righty, even more so than a 97 mph fastball. There are some hitters, such as Adrian Beltre, on whom if you get two strikes?  You're assured a strikeout with this pitch.

There are a good number of righty AL hitters who get destroyed with the good Jeff Nelson slider.  And they always will.

.

SPLITTER.  The first pitch on this video shows you a Roger Clemens 91-mph splitter that appears to dive two feet.  What a pitch.  It's slow-mo'ed later in the vid.  ... there are more examples of it on the same video, breaking a bit less ... 90 mph with the bottom falling out, just like Felix' changeup, which is Felix' best pitch.

This is one reason I'd be bullish on him in the AL -- that he can go to this particular pitch.  Felix throws it 20% of the time, and more with two strikes.

.

12-6 CURVE.  At the 0:33 mark of this video, you see the overhand change curve to a LH batter.

On the YouTubes, anyway, Darvish throws this yellow hammer a lot.  It's not a Bert Blylven yakker; it's more like a change-speed drop ball.  Reminds me of Pineda's "slider," actually, just in terms of velocity and shape to the pitch.

Hasegawa threw this pitch, this and a fastball.  This is the pitch I'd plump for as having the worst F/X value once he got to the States ... plenty of swings and misses but also a good number of wall splashes.

.

FASTBALL.  At the 1:22 and 1:36 points of this video, you get a good feel for his ability to hump up and deliver Pineda velocity when he wants to.

Like Felix (and like David Cone), he tends to locate more, around the 92-94 mph mark, but can reach back.