Yu Darvish will make first MLB debut today against Ichiro Suzuki Seattle Mariners

When the Mariners visit the Rangers on Monday night, the focus will be on one player and one player alone. And for more than 100 million reasons.

That would be Yu Darvish, the Japanese pitching sensation who is set to make his Major League debut against Seattle and before what likely will the intrigued eyes of millions of baseball fans, players and officials.

Everyone wants to see how good the polished, prized, 25-year-old right-hander from Japan will be in a regular-season setting. Darvish impressed in Spring Training, striking out 21 batters in 15 innings, but that was Spring Training.

It’s game on in the United States, and for Darvish, it will be memorable. When asked about what he’s expecting and if it reminds him of how he felt when he began his career in Japan, he expressed a keen desire to make it seem as normal and in his routine as possible.

“I do recall a little bit my debut as a professional,” Darvish said through an interpreter. “With this debut, I’m trying to stay on an even keel and approach it like any other start.”