SURPRISE, Ariz. – You know it's a quiet day on the Yu Darvish front when he's not even the most popular Japanese pitcher in camp.
That honor went to Akinori Otsuka, who watched the Rangers practice and was a popular interview subject for the Japanese media. Otsuka spent his final two years in the majors pitching for Texas, saving 36 games over the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
Otsuka, 40, told former teammate Michael Young he hasn't given up on pitching in the majors again.
Young was also popular as the Japanese media requested him to talk to them in the tent that has become the Darvish press conference tent.
"I think it's great," Young said of the atmosphere surrounding the camp. "I think it's great for baseball. It's great for our team. It's great for the Metroplex, for our organization. I talked to him a little bit in the training room today and he's a pretty funny guy. We we're joking around with him and he understands more than he speaks. There were certain things we said he didn't need an interpreter for."
Darvish didn't pitch Sunday but Monday will be his biggest day in camp so far. In addition to a bullpen session, Darvish will throw 10 minutes of batting practice to Texas hitters.
Young doesn't care if he's in one of the groups that gets to hit off Darvish.
"I don't really buy into the whole friendly competition thing," Young said. "Competition is 'I really want to beat the hell out of you. I don't care how you do.' I want to see all my teammates do well. As long as I'm playing behind him when we win games, that's all I care about.
