Watch: Darvish fools McCutchen with absurd slider

Whatever rust Yu Darvish needed to shake in his first start since 2014 must have fallen off the baseball with this silly slider he dropped on All-Star center fielder Andrew McCutchen during the first inning of his anticipated return.

Darvish, who missed the entire 2015 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, returned to the mound Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates and immediately reminded fans why he's still one of the most dominant pitchers in the game.

Making his first start Aug. 9, 2014, Darvish breezed through a 16-pitch first inning that saw the Rangers ace draw from his arsenal of pitches and top 98 miles per hour with his four-seam fastball. He exited after five innings and 81 pitches, allowing just one run on three hits while fanning seven.

(Video courtesy: MLB.com)