Yu Darvish once wanted to wipe off Astros' 2017 WS title from the records owing to his disdain for their tactics

San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish opened a can of worms while weighing in on the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal in 2020. He claimed that the Astros should be stripped of their 2017 World Series trophy as they cheated.

Darvish drew comparisons between the World Series trophy and an Olympic medal, suggesting that the Astros be stripped of their accolades just as an athlete would have been stripped of their medal if found guilty of cheating.

"It's like the Olympics," Darvish was quoted as saying by ESPN. "When a player cheats, you can't have a gold medal, right? But they still have a World Series title. It [feels] weird."

Darvish incidentally pitched in that World Series on the opposite end with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He featured in Games 3 and 7. The Houston Astros won both those contests. It was also during that World Series that Darvish was told he was tipping pitches.

"I know they were stealing signs, but at the same time, I was not good during the World Series," Darvish said. "I'm better for what I went through. But, yeah, everyone is wondering about [their numbers] pitching against them."

Yu Darvish is a 5-time MLB All-Star

Yu Darvish was a highly-rated pitcher in Japan before he arrived in Major League Baseball in 2012.

He finished third in the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year balloting. The following season, he finished second in the AL Cy Young Award voting as he led the league in strikeouts with 277 and was fourth in the AL in earned run average (ERA) at 2.83.

Darvish is also a five-time MLB All-Star who was voted into the All-MLB First Team in 2020. He most recently won the World Baseball Classic with the Japanese national team earlier this year.

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