ARLINGTON, Texas — Yu Darvish is excited to make his regular season debut Monday night for the Texas Rangers.
That doesn't mean he's exactly where he wants to be, though.
"Even now, the feel is still not 100 percent," said Darvish, who will face Seattle in his first game as a major leaguer. "I worked during spring camp and I didn't make so much improvement, but at least I prepared myself to at least compete at this level. I still am not in 100 percent season form yet."
Darvish had a press conference Saturday to talk about his upcoming start as well as his thoughts on Opening Day. He's been through several openers in Japan, but enjoyed Friday's 3-2 victory against the White Sox.
"Even at the Nippon Ham Fighters when we open up we'll hold about 43,000-plus, so the excitement is still there," said Darvish, who hasn't begun scouting the Mariners yet. "Over here the excitement is a little bit different from over there. Throughout the game it's something different than over there."
Darvish said the key for him entering his first start is remaining on an even keel and not putting more of an emphasis on Monday's game than any other start this season.
