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Yusei Kikuchi Continues the Blue Jays’ Dominant Start
The outstanding performance of the starting pitchers helped the Toronto Blue Jays defeat the New York Yankees earlier this week, earning the series victory. Yusei Kikuchi, a left-hander, was particularly impressive during his six-inning stint, allowing just three hits and one run through 94 pitches against the Bronx Bombers.
With an incredible effort on the mound, the Japanese product struck out nine batters in the game, including Aaron Judge (x2), Anthony Volpe (x3), and Juan Soto, among others. This provided the Jays a chance to win the game.
This outing is consistent with what Kikuchi has shown Jays fans thus far this season and even last year, as the left-hander has occasionally been utterly overpowering on the mound.
The southpaw has only given up 17 hits and five earned runs in his four appearances and 20 2/3 innings this season, good for a 2.08 ERA. However, this number ought to be lower given that a Bo Bichette error resulted in a single, giving the Jays starter an extra earned run. Kikuchi, who is tied for third place in the American League behind White Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet (31) and Angels left-hander Reid Detmers (30), has given up eight walks to 28 strikeouts so far this season. Currently ranking second in the American League and fourth overall, his 12.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio has resulted in seven strikeouts or more in three of his four outings.
Yusei Kikuchi’s Career is Launching Well
Kikuchi has guided the Jays to a 2-2 record thus far in the season; however, both of his defeats came from his teammates being able to score just one run in each game and not providing much of a challenge for the pitching staff.
In terms of strikeouts, he leads the squad right now. He also ranks second in WHIP and ERA (1.154), third in innings worked, and third among starting pitchers in BB/9. Aside from strikeout totals, which are among the highest in the major leagues, the Jays’ lone left-handed starter trails his counterpart in several categories, especially considering José Berríos’ equally stellar start to the season.
Kikuchi has a 98th percentile pitching run value of six on Statcast, and he also has a 98th percentile breaking run value of four. The 33-year-old has been combining his fastball well with his curveball, changeup, and slider. His changeup has been the most effective pitch through 50 deliveries, with a whiff percentage above 20% for all four pitches.
His curveball has been one of his best pitches while facing other teams; batters have a.105 average and a.192 xwOBA off of it, and it sets him up for strikeouts, which he leads the league in at 14 batters. Kikuchi ranks in the 89th percentile for average exit velocity (84.9 MPH) and between the 70th and 80th percentiles for barrel and hard-hit percentages, respectively. The average exit velocity on all four pitches is likewise below 90 MPH.
When it comes to splits, Kikuchi has handled LHB better than RHB (albeit there has been a noticeable sample size difference in terms of at-bats). However, when facing the other side, he has kept batters to a.226/.314/.290 slash line and a.605 OPS through 62 at-bats.
Kikuchi has experienced both the highs and lows of a big league starting pitcher over his previous two seasons with the Blue Jays. Kikuchi’s contract looked to be among the worst in the league when it was first signed in 2022 since the left-hander was having trouble with control (5.2 BB/9) and ultimately ended the season in the bullpen, finishing with a 5.62 FIP over 100 2/3 innings. Because he was not finishing his pitches, the Jays traded for Mitch White in an attempt to improve the rotation, which was being negatively affected by both Kikuchi and Berríos.
After earning the final rotation place during spring training the previous season, Kikuchi made a strong recovery, decreasing his walk rate to a 2.6 BB/9 figure through 32 starts and posting a 3.86 ERA. Since joining the Blue Jays, he has had high strikeout rates (11.1 and 9.7 K/9, respectively), and going into this season, he is still striking out batters while significantly lowering his H/9 rate (by more than 1.2 points) in comparison to his 2022 stats.
Kikuchi, who has been in the league since the 2023 All-Star game, is ranked fourth in terms of fWAR (3.2) and FIP (2.68), surpassing well-known aces like Corbin Burnes and Tyler Glasnow.
Kikuchi played a significant role in the Blue Jays’ 2023 season and their outstanding pitching staff, which enabled the team to make the postseason for the second straight year (albeit their success was restricted to the AL Wild Card).
In terms of the future, Kikuchi is performing well right now in a contract year, which might benefit the Japanese player later this offseason and the Blue Jays club in the competitive AL East. Pitchers like Kikuchi carrying over their great 2023 season into this season will be crucial to the Jays’ performance and postseason hopes, since the team has been failing to generate consistent production at the plate.