Darvish has also played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

He pitched in the 2017 World Series for the Dodgers, where his underwhelming performance was later attributed to being a victim of the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal.

[citation needed] Darvish was scouted by Major League teams, such as the Anaheim Angels and Atlanta Braves, even while in junior high.

The incident prompted his high school to suspend him, and the Fighters to place him under probation for an indefinite period and order him to participate in community service.

[19][20] In particular, he went 10–0 after May 30, playing a leading role in the Fighters' first Pacific League title since 1981 (his win streak lasted until April 14 of the following season, when it reached 12–0) and contributing to their first championship since 1961 in the Japan Series over the Dragons.

However, the Fighters had no answer for opposing right-hander Daisuke Yamai and closer Hitoki Iwase, failing to get a single man on base and allowing the first perfect game in Japan Series history.

[28] While he did not pitch the way he had hoped in the Olympics, Darvish promptly put up a perfect 5–0 record with a 1.29 ERA and two complete games in the five starts upon returning to the Fighters, leading them to a playoff berth in a heated race against the Marines.

Darvish started the Fighters' season opener for the third straight year in 2009, taking the mound against the Eagles on April 3 in a matchup with the reigning Sawamura Award winner and World Baseball Classic teammate Hisashi Iwakuma.

The Fighters classified it as "shoulder fatigue", and the deactivation came after a career-worst start against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, in which he went eight innings, but gave up six earned runs in a losing effort.

He was reactivated on September 13, but in his second start back a week later against the Orix Buffaloes, Darvish gave up a career-high seven walks in five innings, and two runs.

Darvish was activated again just in time for the 2009 Japan Series against the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants, and he pitched game 2 on November 1.

At 23, Darvish became the youngest player in Japanese baseball history to reach the ¥300,000,000 mark, along with being the highest-paid pitcher in the Pacific League presently.

"[39] The Associated Press noted that both his exposure to international play during the 2009 World Baseball Classic and recurring injuries both led him to consider leaving Japan.

Commissioner Ryozo Kato was criticized for comparing the resumption to the return of Major League Baseball ten days after the September 11 attacks.

Joe Nathan, the Rangers' closer, relieved him and induced a ground ball double play to get the save and secure the third win for Darvish.

[60] On April 30, Darvish gave up his first MLB home run to Edwin Encarnación of the Toronto Blue Jays, in a game that Texas won 4–1.

He did not get to run the bases however, as Ian Kinsler hit a line shot to the second baseman, and Darvish was tagged off of the bag to complete the double play.

[70] The hit was initially ruled an error, thus allowing Darvish to take a no-hitter into the ninth before Ortiz recorded a single in that inning.

He underwent an MRI the following day, which eventually revealed that his right elbow had a torn UCL, preventing Darvish from participating for the entire 2015 baseball season.

[78] Throughout the entire 2017 season, Darvish was subject to trade rumors, as he only had one year left on his contract and the Rangers fell further from playoff contention.

[95] An MRI revealed Darvish had a stress reaction on his right elbow as well as a triceps strain, ending his 2018 season,[96] after only 8 games and 40 innings pitched, in which he was 1–3 with a 4.95 ERA.

[99] On December 29, 2020, Darvish and his personal catcher Víctor Caratini were traded to the San Diego Padres for pitcher Zach Davies and prospects Owen Caissie, Reginald Preciado, Yeison Santana, and Ismael Mena.

[108][109] On May 20, Darvish recorded his 200th combined career win in both MLB (107) and NPB (93) after the Padres' 9–1 victory over the Atlanta Braves, with only Hiroki Kuroda (203) and Hideo Nomo (201) ahead of him.

[111] On September 16, Darvish extended his MLB record of consecutive games with multiple strikeouts to 280, the longest streak by any player at any point in their career since the modern era began in 1901.

[116] Named the ace of the Japanese national team by manager Senichi Hoshino in the 2008 Beijing Olympics,[117] Darvish took the hill in Japan's first game of the preliminary round against Cuba on August 13, but was charged with the loss after giving up four runs in four innings.

Darvish started the last game of the preliminary round against the United States on August 20 and was brought in to mop up after the U.S. had taken a decisive lead in the bronze medal match, finishing the tournament 0–1 with a 5.14 ERA, albeit with 10 strikeouts in seven innings pitched.

Darvish pitched in the 2009 World Baseball Classic as the de facto ace of the Japanese national team,[119] starting the opening game against China on March 5.

However, pitching in a Major League stadium for the first time in his career, he struggled in his second outing of the tournament against South Korea on March 17, throwing five innings and giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk and ultimately being charged with the loss.

[120] His first career save would follow six days later, when he pitched the final inning of the semi-finals against the United States, yielding no runs and a single and striking out two as Japan won 9–4.

[130][133][134] He complements these two with a wide repertoire of secondary pitches, including a two-seam fastball (also described as a shuuto),[135] a cutter, two curveballs, a splitter, and an occasional changeup.