Tom Krasovic: Champions adjust, which is why the Padres like their chances with Yu Darvish on the mound

Let’s dive into some inside baseball.

The driver to this plunge: the Padres’ quest for their first National League West title since 2006 and the club’s first World Series title.

Luck will matter. So will health.

In skill, it will come down to this: Can Padres players adjust as champions must?

Big-leaguers either solve problems fast or they fail. The Padres boast two ace problem-solvers in Yu Darvish, 38, and Manny Machado, 33.

I’ll write only about Darvish here, delving into his breakthrough last week. Darvish lowered his arm angle, leading to his seven shutout innings against the Mets. He allowed just two hits and no walks and had seven strikeouts. He threw only 76 pitches.

While playing catch last week before his bullpen session, the veteran found the fix.

“I went into the bullpen leading up to (Wednesday), and I felt good about it,” he said. “So I went into the game with a different arm slot than usual, and it worked. So all in all, I’m happy about that.”

Why did the lower arm angle yield profound improvement?

Darvish said it created an optimal rotation of his shoulders.

“That transfers energy to the baseball,” said the broad-shouldered pitcher, who’s 6-foot-5.

Standing in front of reporters after last Wednesday’s game, Darvish rotated his shoulders several times. He was mimicking his whirling move on the mound. It seemed he was further locking down the muscle memory of his pitches that afternoon.

The correction put Darvish on a glide path, recalling some of his best work in five years with the Padres.

He commanded pitches that moved left or right. Others dived or held plane. The speeds ranged from 73.5 to 95.0 miles per hour.

When he beat Mets righty slugger Pete Alonso to the spot with a 93.5-mph sinker, yielding a soft lineout to first base, Darvish showed more bounce to his step. Winning with the inside fastball sets up other successes. This one had extra tail, likely due to the lower arm slot.

Later, Darvish found his killer splitter. Reacting to slugger Mark Vientos swinging over the ankle-high pitch for strike three, Darvish did an Incredible Hulk mini-flex as he bounded off the mound. To borrow from Darvish, he seemed to transfer ideal energy to the ball. It tumbled 38 inches — nine more than the previous splitter to Vientos, per Baseball Savant’s Statcast.

None of the success was a surprise. Adapting well has enabled Darvish to lengthen a career that began 20 years ago in Japan.

When this season dealt him an elbow setback in March, it wasn’t until July 7 that he pitched for the Padres.

An interesting subplot: A June return may have pitted Darvish against the Dodgers. It seemed beneficial to him for that not to happen, had he been able to return sooner.

Why face the Dodgers while also trying to knock off rust? Last time he faced them, twice in the playoffs last October, the pitcher allowed two runs or fewer each time. Remaining a 2025 mystery to L.A., Darvish may have preserved a tiny mental edge against his top rival.

It didn’t bother me that Darvish had three rough outings following his season debut, because in that first game, he displayed his typical hot fastball. At 95 mph, it plays up Darvish’s numerous other pitches. The next few games weren’t pretty. I considered them de facto spring training games, albeit during the regular season. Darvish did not.

“I don’t see it that way,” he said after taming the Mets, adding that he was trying to win those four starts.

Creating extra challenges for opponents’ game planners, Darvish dipped liberally from MLB’s most colorful palette. He threw nine different pitches. In order of usage, they were sinkers, sliders, curves, sweepers and four-seam fastballs, splitters, cutters, knuckle curveballs and changeups.

His season resumed Tuesday against the Diamondbacks, when he allowed three runs on three hits and two walks while striking out five across four innings. Adjustments were required once again. He was on a different mound in arid conditions.

Baseball is better with an effective Darvish, whose 39th birthday comes Aug. 16.

A major development in the adjustment game is playing out with the defending champion Dodgers.

The great Mookie Betts has fallen into the worst slump of his career. Fruitless in his monthslong efforts to generate his slugging power, the Dodgers’ star, 32, has been left to hope for divine intervention.

“I’ve done everything I can possibly do,” he said Sunday. “It’s up to God at this point.”

Turning one’s career over to providence? That’s an adjustment, too.