which included decreasing his fastball usage increasing his slider at the expense of his curveball posting a 2.70 ERA over 60 innings down the stretch That performance is what led the Angels to believe in him and reward him handsomely this past offseason After five-and-a-half underwhelming seasons, Japanese southpaw Yusei Kikuchi reinvented himself last season following a deadline deal that sent him from Toronto to Houston. By making three major tweaks During spring training, it seemed clear that Kikuchi wasn't done reinventing himself. His new role as the ace of the Angels' staff meant that the veteran needed to continue to evolve stave off adjustments hitters will make in response to his new approach and prove that he is able to put together a similar level of performance to what he showed in Houston over a full season In order to do so, he got to tinkering, working on a sweeper in the spring as a complement to his slider which had proven to be his best pitch with a run value of 9 in 2024 Despite the hype surrounding the sweeper during the spring warm-ups, he's thrown just 11 all year, representing 1.7% of his total pitches. Through his first seven starts, Kikuchi has been far from the ace Angels fans were promised with a 4.21 ERA and the worst K/9 mark of his career (8.17) since 2019 when he arrived stateside When Kikuchi unveiled the pitch this spring against the Dodgers He fooled the great Shohei Ohtani with it while also using it to strike out a quality big league hitter in Will Smith Yet the sweeper has been an afterthought this season despite some electric results in a small sample Kikuchi's sweeper has generated a 33% whiff rate and one strikeout despite only his sinker (three total pitches) being used less frequently the rest of his offerings have gotten hit pretty hard Hitters are batting .348 against his fastball with a .500 slugging percentage the batting average allowed is .300 with an eye-watering .700 slugging percentage His slider has far and away been his best pitch with a .217 batting average allowed and a .370 slugging percentage which has surrendered a batting average of .250 and a slugging percentage of .406 which are stark differences from the xBA of .316 and the xSLG of .578 the pitch has generated Kikuchi's biggest issue this season is that he's not generating whiffs at nearly the same rate as he did last year his whiff rate of 29% ranked in the 76th percentile while this season it has fallen off a cliff to just 21.5% It's no surprise then that his strikeouts have taken a precipitous drop and he's been less effective overall his slider has been his best pitch on the season with a run value of 1.8 and he uses often throwing them 36.4% of the time just a couple percentage points off of his fastball utilization that sits at 39.1% throwing two pitches that appear the same out of the hand but arrive at different velocities and ultimately have a difference in break by increasing his sweeper usage could not only prove that his new offering his more effective than he might think but also positively impact the performance of his already strong slider Tunneling is the concept that has made the changeup a staple in baseball but for a breaking ball artist such as Kikuchi it could make make a ton of sense to capitalize on two pitches that arrive on similiar planes yet feature different break and velocity Kikuchi's average slider velocity is 86.7 miles per hour a good deal off of the 81.2 miles per hour his sweeper comes in at his slider drops a good deal more at 4.7 inches of drop versus 2.3 inches on the sweeper the slower sweeper has a good deal more horizontal movement posting 11.5 inches of glove-side horizontal induced break versus just 2.2 inches on the slider Pairing the two not only gives Kikuchi another weapon that has produced exceptional results in a small sample but it can also augment his best pitch and make it even more effective As hitters have seemingly adjusted to the changes he made to be successful in Houston this proposed alteration of his repertoire could prove to be the next step in his evolution which hopefully ends up resulting in the ace-like performance the Angels desperately crave © 2025 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Minute Media or its affiliates and related brands All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit If you or someone you know has a gambling problem crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER During spring training, it seemed clear that Kikuchi wasn't done reinventing himself. His new role as the ace of the Angels' staff meant that the veteran needed to continue to evolve In order to do so, he got to tinkering, working on a sweeper in the spring as a complement to his slider Despite the hype surrounding the sweeper during the spring warm-ups, he's thrown just 11 all year, representing 1.7% of his total pitches. Through his first seven starts, Kikuchi has been far from the ace Angels fans were promised with a 4.21 ERA Kikuchi (8 K's) shines for HalosMarch 14th TEMPE, Ariz. -- Lefty was dominant down the stretch with the Astros last season once he started to incorporate his slider more to pair with his mid-90s fastball Kikuchi has added a new pitch to that mix -- a sweeper Kikuchi, who will be the Angels' Opening Day starter debuted it against the Dodgers in his first start of the spring on Feb getting a swing and miss against Shohei Ohtani and striking out Will Smith with the pitch Kikuchi's next scheduled start was rained out on March 7 causing him to instead pitch indoors in a simulated game but he returned to the mound with a strong outing against the Royals on Friday at Tempe Diablo Stadium who struck out eight while allowing one run on five hits over 4 1/3 innings believes his sweeper will help him this year His slider averages 87 mph with two inches of break compared to his sweeper at 81 mph with 16 inches of break He also has a curveball and a changeup as part of his arsenal but his sweeper gives him a different look he didn’t previously offer “It’s a pitch I can keep in my back pocket kind of thing,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Yusuke Oshima “Just pick and choose different spots to use it but just making sure I know when to use it.” Kikuchi said his next and final start before the March 27 season opener against the White Sox will come in either a Minor League game or in a simulated setting So while he made just two Cactus League starts this spring he believes he’s getting plenty of work to get ready for his first start of the regular season He estimated he’ll throw roughly 90 pitches in his next outing and is pleased with how he’s been feeling this spring but I threw most of the pitches where I wanted to today,” Kikuchi said I just have to make sure I get to that number Rengifo plays four innings, likely to be ready for Opening Day dealt with an illness early in camp and recently had some hamstring tightness but he returned to the lineup against the Royals for just his second game of the spring playing four innings and going 0-for-2 at the plate after Yoán Moncada was scratched with thumb soreness But Rengifo is on track to be the club’s starting second baseman on Opening Day and manager Ron Washington said he believes Rengifo has enough time to get ready for the opener everything should be good,” Washington said and if all of that continues to go well and he stays on the program we’ve got him on Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball Rengifo also said he’s feeling good and just needs to work on his timing at the plate before the start of the season He also believes it won’t be an issue to get ready by Opening Day “I was just excited to be back on the field I just need to see more pitching before that day.” Angels tidbits• Angels legend Tim Salmon arrived at camp as a guest instructor on Friday Former Angels infielder Cole Tucker has also been in camp to shadow the club’s coaches as he’s looking to get into coaching after his playing career ended last season • Washington said the Angels will start rolling out lineups that look more like their potential Opening Day lineup on Wednesday They’ve been having their catchers hit second in spring to get them more at-bats without having to catch extra innings in the process but they’ll move down in the order next week Written by RotoWire Staff Kikuchi didn't factor into the decision Thursday against Detroit after allowing two runs on five hits and one walk in five innings Both of Kikuchi's runs allowed came via solo homers with one coming on a third-inning shot by Javier Baez and another on a fourth-inning blast by Gleyber Torres It was still an encouraging bounce-back effort overall by the left-hander who yielded a lone walk after lending a whopping 18 free passes over 25.1 frames in April Kikuchi will look to further improve his 4.21 ERA 1.54 WHIP and 33:19 K:BB across 36.1 frames in a tough matchup next week versus the Blue Jays who entered Wednesday with a .758 OPS against left-handed pitching this season CAN; Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement (22) throws out Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas (not pictured) at first during the ninth inning at Rogers Centre A sudden twist of fate has rattled the team leaving fans to wonder how Boston will rebound from these unexpected setbacks The season took an unforeseen turn when Triston Casas suffered a left patellar tendon rupture a serious injury that now likely sidelines him for the remainder of the campaign and his absence will be felt deeply both on and off the field as the team scrambles to cover the void he leaves behind The roster’s challenges extend beyond Casas has also been sidelined with right shoulder inflammation Though there is cautious optimism that his time on the injured list might be short-lived his condition adds another layer of complexity as the team navigates a tough part of the season whispers of potential trades have begun circulating within the sports community One intriguing trade possibility centers on a seasoned pitcher from another franchise whose current contract and brief yet impressive track record have caught some attention While the numbers and previous performances might make the prospect seem aggressive to move there remains a thought that trading for a pitching option might not be the immediate path forward the team is likely to explore repositioning strategies—possibly addressing the first base role—in an effort to bolster the roster without making risky moves The blend of significant injuries paired with emerging trade rumors paints a picture of a franchise in transition As the team works to manage its current challenges while eyeing long-term stability strategic shifts can pave the way for future success The broader implication is clear: resilience and adaptability will be key as the team charts its course through a turbulent season A determined return to the mound amid personal adversity set the stage for a renewed season chapter as a key relief pitcher rejoined the squad after a deeply.. Thrilling Ninth Inning Masterpiece In the midst of a high-stakes clash at Yankee Stadium a single performance redefined the narrative of the game Compelling Introduction The roar of the crowd and the crack of the bat set the stage for an unforgettable display of grit as the White Sox prepare to.. A Heart-Stopping Moment in the Game An electrifying moment at Fenway Park transformed a routine inning into a dramatic near-tragedy In a game intensely contested between the Boston.. The Weight of a Storied Legacy Stepping onto the field in pinstripes means more than just representing a team—it means carrying forward a tradition steeped in decades of.. © 2025 M Sports - Premium news & magazine M Sports Please enter your username or email address to reset your password © 2025 M Sports - Premium news & magazine M Sports playThe numbers behind Kikuchi's deal with the Angels (1:02)Check out some career stats from Yusei Kikuchi who signed a 3-year contract with the Angels Left-handed starter Yusei Kikuchi and the Los Angeles Angels have agreed on a three-year contract but sources confirmed to ESPN that the deal is worth $63 million Angels general manager Perry Minasian said Wednesday the team valued Kikuchi's durability and strike-throwing consistency in their decision to make a hefty financial commitment to him "Biggest commitment I've made since I've been here but I felt like we needed to add a rotation piece that could slot everybody down." Kikuchi, 33, had a great second half to his season last year after being traded from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Houston Astros making 32 starts split between the two teams He made 32 starts in 2023 as well while appearing in 32 games in 2022 and 29 games in 2021 That durability undoubtedly helped secure his current deal with the Angels The six-year veteran will be joining his fourth team after breaking into the big leagues with the Seattle Mariners in 2019 His best season came in 2023 when he went 11-6 with a 3.86 ERA for the Blue Jays His contributions to the Astros last season also helped them reach the postseason something his new team hasn't done since 2014 Los Angeles has been by far the most aggressive team in MLB so far this winter we've been pretty aggressive," Minasian said We'll look to attack all those areas and improve this club." Information from The Associated Press was used in this report let’s reexamine last season’s most consequential trade for the Astros For the Astros, any contribution they'll receive from acquiring Yusei Kikuchi is officially over with the news on Monday morning that the left-hander agreed to a three-year I am not that surprised to see Kikuchi would sign elsewhere considering how Houston still has to sort out third base with Alex Bregman being a free agent and all I would've liked to see Kikuchi remain with the club for a few reasons but the odds of a reunion always felt slight especially for $21 million annually during the next three seasons That is more of a reflection of where the Astros are in terms of player payroll than the contract for Kikuchi While it may become a slight overpay at that price it could prove to be an underpay in a year or two When the trade with the Blue Jays initially broke I wasn't sure what to think about seeing the Astros trade Joey Loperfido While each has positives within their respective profiles but strikeouts could keep him from being an everyday regular I am not sure what to think about his ceiling but I think his floor as someone who can help fill out a depth chart with a quality on-base tool is likely I wonder how not having a proper defensive position affected Houston's evaluation of him There's also the looming 40-man roster decision Dana Brown would've had with him this offseason if he wasn't traded so the Astros probably felt more at ease by including Wagner to help sweeten the deal Bloss was the player in the deal I hated to see leave most He has the signature rising fastball that has become a staple in Houston's pitching development His slider and curveball have real potential I genuinely think he can become a legitimate middle-of-the-rotation arm But the Astros are also caught in this weird in-between mode with an eye on maximizing postseason odds with the current roster but also looking to rebuild a depleted farm system Bloss was a casualty of these circumstances Including Bloss in any deal was a likely starting point in any deal Loperfido and Wagner probably won't land a pitcher like Kikuchi might speak more to how much the front office wanted Kikuchi than anything else a bit more surprised that Brown agreed to trade all three in a single deal for a middle-of-the-rotation arm the Astros identified something in Kikuchi — TL;DR curveball bad — to help unlock his latent potential that both Seattle and Toronto tried to unlock but couldn't completely But with a farm system as thin as Houston's the idea of trading all three of Loperfido even if I wasn't exactly enthralled with the individual potential of two of the three prospects Bloss was the prospect who made the trade work It was an overpay in a general sense for the Astros but its depths won't be known for a while yet With each of the trio still under club control for multiple years the Blue Jays stand to reap more long-term benefits especially if those players are eventually included in further trades down the road It isn't a stretch to speculate that Houston could've used all three players in some fashion in 2025 top prospect Jacob Melton likely made Loperfido a bit more expendable to the Astros Wagner could've provided some depth at first base where the organization moved him in 2024 before the trade deadline It is within the realm of possibilities that he assumes a more prominent role in 2025 we won't know the exact ramifications for a while Regarding Kikuchi's agreement with the Angels the Astros now see a crucial pitcher down the stretch this year join a division rival I am curious how much Kikuchi's adjustments in Texas will carry over into California Kikuchi saw a demonstratable improvement across the board by exchanging curveballs and four-seam fastballs for more sliders There is a bit of a batted ball regression within Kikuchi's profile as he posted a .241 BABIP with the Astros compared to a .304 career BABIP dating back to 2019 despite generating a higher groundball rate by 5.4% But if he can maintain some of those gains within his whiff and strikeout rates then a regression closer to his career average on the batted-ball front could be somewhat muted his new contract's price was too cost-prohibitive for the Astros' current situation especially if they earnestly want to retain Bregman's services The Twins opened the first inning with four consecutive hits and they also got a strong start from Simeon Woods Richardson By the time Los Angeles Angels lefthander Yusei Kikuchi threw his 11th pitch Saturday the Twins had four hits and a two-run lead “It’s any pitcher’s dream,” Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson said at least the dream for a guy watching from the dugout The Twins compiled 14 baserunners through the first three innings but Woods Richardson didn’t need much more support in a 5-1 Twins victory at Target Field Pitching in front of an announced crowd of 23,905 the Twins’ largest since their home opener Woods Richardson struck out a season-high seven batters and gave up one run across 5⅓ innings “With all this playoff winning going around who attended the Wild’s home playoff victory over Vegas on Thursday recorded only six outs before he was knocked from the game The Twins tagged him for nine hits — all singles — though they failed to turn the game into a blowout with their inability to clear the bases The Twins greeted Kikuchi with four consecutive singles to open the bottom of the first inning Buxton laced a line drive single to center on an elevated changeup that was closer to the other batter’s box than the plate showing Kikuchi didn’t even need to be around the strike zone to give up hits Correa and Ty France produced back-to-back RBI hits before Kikuchi recorded his first out then Jonah Bride lined an RBI single to left field in a 32-pitch first inning The Twins left the bases loaded when Christian Vázquez lined out to center but it was a quick three-run lead for an offense that scored only 10 first-inning runs through its first 26 games There were a couple of changeups that he left up that guys just put good swings on.” Correa added: “I think the whole lineup was in on the approach and good things happen when everybody is on the same page.” Subscribe to the Twins’ Extra Innings newsletter here Buxton manufactured a run in the second inning He beat out a potential double-play grounder swiped second and scored easily when Correa drilled an RBI single into left field Brooks Lee hit a dribbler back to the mound “We laid off a lot of pitches,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said Really hunting the right pitches in the right part of the zone the Twins loaded the bases with no outs after a single escaped the jam by striking out Buxton and Correa before inducing a ground ball to end the inning BOXSCORE: Twins 5, L.A. Angels 1 MLB standings The Twins stranded 11 runners on base through the first four innings. Finally, in the sixth, France hit a leadoff double off lefty reliever Reid Detmers, giving the Twins their first extra-base hit, and Lee hit a two-out double to right field that flew past diving right fielder Mike Trout. “It’s a confidence-booster, for sure, and we’ve got to keep going,” Correa said. “We dug ourselves a hole at the beginning of the season where we weren’t playing great baseball.” Woods Richardson matched his highest strikeout total in his past 29 outings with more movement on his four-seam fastball. When Jo Adell whiffed on a fastball for the final out of the second inning, Vázquez threw the ball back to Woods Richardson, who started walking back to the mound. It took Woods Richardson a moment to realize the inning was over. Vázquez tapped his chest to take blame, but perhaps it was a sign of how well he was feeling. Woods Richardson allowed a solo homer to Zach Neto in the third inning, a slider that was pulled over the left field wall, then he retired his next eight batters. “He had some really good life on that [fastball],” Baldelli said. “You could see it in the swings. You could see it in the takes. You could see it in just the way they reacted to all of his other pitches, too.” Bobby Nightengale joined the Minnesota Star Tribune in May, 2023, after covering the Reds for the Cincinnati Enquirer for five years. He's a graduate of Bradley University. Twins His idea: "For the amount of money we spend on cookies The Twins made roster moves during Monday's off-day and Lewis will make his season debut on Tuesday The Twins scored two runs in the seventh and two runs in the eighth and held on for their second consecutive one-run victory at Boston The Seattle Mariners had the honor of opening the season in the 2019 iteration of the event against the Oakland Athletics The Mariners won't travel to the eastern hemisphere this season but a large part of the team's history is tied to Japan One of the most iconic players in Seattle history is Ichiro Suzuki who will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 27 Suzuki made his major league debut in 2001 But the most recent successful Japanese-born player who began with the Mariners is one that is still enjoying the prime of his career in the American League West Yusei Kikuchi spent eight seasons with the Seibu Lions in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball from 2011-18 He was a three-time NPB All-Star and led the Pacific League in ERA and wins in 2017 He came stateside and made his debut with Seattle in 2019 Kikuchi pitched three seasons in the Pacific Northwest from 2019-21 He struggled his first two seasons with the Mariners and had ERAs above 5.00 in 2019 and 2020 He broke through in 2021 and made the All-Star game that year He started 29 games and had a 4.41 ERA with 163 strikeouts in 157 innings pitched he found more success with the Toronto Blue Jays He was traded to the Mariners' biggest in-division rivals Kikuchi had arguably the best stretch of his career with Houston He had a 2.70 ERA with the Astros in 10 starts He fanned 76 batters in 60 innings pitched Kikuchi was able to get a big contract this past offseason and signed a three-year $63.675 million contract with another one of Seattle's American League West rivals Kikuchi has a 3.86 ERA with 11 strikeouts in two Cactus League starts Kikuchi hasn't received notoriety to the same level as fellow as Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto But Kikuchi is still one of the better starting pitchers in the American League as referenced by own Brady Farkas on the most recent "Refuse to Lose" podcast he could be the last link for the M's to Japan's talent ICHIRO SUZUKI'S INFLUENCE STILL FELT MORE THAN TWO DECADES AFTER HIS DEBUT: The Tokyo Series begins on Tuesday morning, and Suzuki owns the status as the greatest Japanese player to ever step foot on the MLB stage. CLICK HERE TAKEAWAYS FROM SEATTLE MARINERS 8-3 CACTUS LEAGUE WIN AGAINST CINCINNATI REDS: Bryce Miller had arguably the team's best start of spring training and Rowdy Tellez had a three-hit game Sunday. CLICK HERE MARINERS RELEASE HILARIOUS COMMERCIAL HIGHLIGHTING OUTFIELDERS: The team's latest commercial featured the outfield trio of Randy Arozarena, Julio Rodriguez and Victor Robles. CLICK HERE TEREN KOWATSCH but he's been inconsistent on the mound despite three quality starts Coming off his worst start as an Angel on April 26 concern is growing for the veteran left-hander On the pitching side, Yusei Kikuchi's walk numbers are a worrying trend. Kikuchi was tabbed as the ace of the staff Kikuchi lasted only two innings in his start against the Minnesota Twins He walked four batters for the second consecutive start He's walked 18 across his last five outings after issuing no free passes on Opening Day Kikuchi had high walk rates early in his MLB career but he kept the ball in the zone more often in 2023 and 2024 He reduced his walks per nine innings from 5.19 in 2022 to 2.58 in 2023 and lowered it again last year to 2.25 accompanied by a career-worst 1.56 strikeout-to-walk ratio Those statistics are not indicative of an ace The Angels are 12-16 entering the final day of April. They've lost six of their last seven games and 11 of 14 since a 9-5 start put the Halos in first place in the AL West for a few days. LA will enter May in last place The Angels need to improve on multiple facets of the game Some of these were expected from a team coming off a 63-win season in 2024 greater concern lies in the unexpectedly flawed areas It's difficult to envision the Halos climbing out of the AL West basement without sharpening these tools The Angels' offense is not good at the moment LA ranks 29th in batting average and is dead last with a .268 team on-base percentage A significant reason those numbers are so low is the lack of production from the outfield Among team rankings for on-base plus slugging percentage Angels outfielders are a combined 3-for-45 at the plate You know about Trout's greatness and otherworldly hitting ability Ward's slash numbers regressed in the last two seasons but he still posted a .779 OPS in 388 games from 2022 to 2024 His current .623 OPS is well below his standard The Angels recently recalled Gustavo Campero after he hit .333 with 11 extra-base hits in 26 Triple-A games Maybe the longtime minor-leaguer can provide a spark in the outfield LA needs Trout and Ward to start carrying their weight in the lineup It's easy to see why the Angels have such a low on-base percentage. Sure, their .211 team batting average is a big part of it, but so too is their inability to draw walks consistently the Angels have drawn the fewest walks in baseball with 62 in 28 games The Angels were never among the top walking teams in recent seasons They finished middle of the pack last year with an 8.1% walk rate after having a slightly higher number in 2023 (8.4%) According to Sports Info Solutions, the Angels have seen the highest percentage of pitches in the strike zone Opposing pitchers simply aren't afraid of Angels hitters doing damage and are challenging them daily The coaching staff must emphasize patience and LA's hitters should work the count more frequently On the pitching side, Yusei Kikuchi's walk numbers are a worrying trend. Kikuchi was tabbed as the ace of the staff Kikuchi 'happy and honored' to get 1st Opening Day nod for AngelsWashington says the decision was 'obvious'February 20th -- Angels manager Ron Washington didn’t have to think too long when deciding his Opening Day starter Washington said it was an easy call to give that honor to veteran lefty , who will take the mound against the White Sox on March 27 at Guaranteed Rate Field. It’s the first time starting a regular-season opener for the six-year veteran, who signed a three-year deal worth $63 million this offseason Kikuchi didn’t officially find out until Thursday when Washington made the announcement but had been told in January to prepare to start the club’s first game We didn't bring him here to be a four or a five We didn't bring him here to be three or a two Kikuchi said he’s excited to make his first career Opening Day start and it’s not something he takes lightly He’s scheduled to make one fewer start than the other pitchers in the rotation this spring as he prefers to pitch every six days during Spring Training to get ramped up for the regular season -- making his first start a week after the other pitchers “I’m very happy and honored,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Yusuke Oshima has a career 4.57 ERA with 837 strikeouts in 809 2/3 innings and posted a 4.05 ERA with 206 strikeouts in 175 2/3 innings with the Blue Jays and Astros last year He was particularly impressive with Houston with a 2.70 ERA in 10 starts with 76 strikeouts in 60 innings which Kikuchi is expected to continue this season pitch usage was big but what really helped was using the slider but it's just I wasn't using it and with the Houston Astros And so I'd like to use that more this year.” Washington said he views Kikuchi as a leader in the clubhouse and believes he can help mentor the club’s younger pitchers Lefty Tyler Anderson and right-hander José Soriano were also candidates to start the first game but Washington said Kikuchi made the most sense and there are some guys behind him that are capable too.” Washington has also been impressed by the Japanese international’s English and has been able to communicate effectively with him this spring It also allows Kikuchi to connect with his teammates easier as well But he's been conversing with us in English He’s a teammate and is doing what he needs to do to communicate and is involved in what we’re doing.” Kikuchi added that he’s enjoyed being around his new teammates and believes in the direction of the franchise in Anaheim He also said Washington reminds him of his managers in Japan because of his intensity and fire Kikuchi is one of several veterans who was brought in this offseason to supplement the club’s young core and he said signed with the Angels because he’s optimistic about their chances to contend going forward but the one thing I can say is I feel like we can win with this team,” Kikuchi said “I really feel that with the young guys coming up I really thought that this team really wanted to win.” Kikuchi said the key for his first start is not to make it any bigger than necessary as he made 32 starts in both 2023 and '24 and has only been placed on the injured list once in his career “I was just told that I was going to start today explicitly so I'm not feeling that kind of pressure right now,” Kikuchi said So what's most important is making 30 to 32 starts in a season and being able to stay healthy and put up the numbers Aggressive Angels sign Kikuchi to 3-year dealNovember 28th ANAHEIM -- The Angels have been the most aggressive club in free agency this offseason, and they kept it up on Monday with their first big splash, agreeing to a three-year, $63 million deal with left-hander is the Angels’ largest since Perry Minasian became general manager in 2020 Kikuchi is a solid upgrade to the rotation after the Angels also signed right-hander Kyle Hendricks to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million Kikuchi immediately becomes an ace for the club and can help the Angels compete after their 99-loss campaign in 2024 The 33-year-old Kikuchi is coming off an intriguing season in which he put together one of the finest stretches of his Major League career following a midseason trade to the Astros “He obviously had a strong finish with Houston after the trade but we really like what we saw before that “When you look at his underlying numbers -- the strikeouts the walks -- that was a quality year overall So he fits all those things -- and his makeup Kikuchi, who began his professional career with eight seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, spent his first three Major League seasons with the Mariners before signing a three-year, $36 million contract with the Blue Jays ahead of the 2022 season. Between Seattle and Toronto, he pitched to a 4.72 ERA with a 1.38 WHIP Kikuchi improved dramatically after his July 29 trade making 10 starts down the stretch and posting a 2.70 ERA with a 0.93 WHIP and 76 strikeouts in 60 innings Among the changes the Astros made to the veteran’s repertoire was a stronger reliance on his slider he was throwing 38.9% sliders compared to just 36.6% four-seam fastballs increasing the effectiveness of both pitches His fastball also averaged a career-best 95.5 mph especially up in the zone and his ability to get ahead of hitters was top five in baseball in the second half of the season swing and miss is really attractive and something we needed.” Kikuchi joins a rotation that includes lefty Tyler Anderson and right-handers José Soriano Other options include internal candidates Reid Detmers Kikuchi’s signing is the largest for the club since it signed reliever Raisel Iglesias to a four-year But Minasian said the Angels are not done and could even add to the rotation so we're not close-minded,” Minasian said “We're going to keep following the trade market following the free agent market and see where it goes But the rotation is still a spot that if we feel like there's an improvement out there and we'd also love the lengthen the lineup.” Kikuchi is the club’s first Japanese player since the departure of Shohei Ohtani to the Dodgers last offseason The Angels still retain a large Japanese fan base because of Ohtani’s six years with the club Kikuchi attended the same high school as Ohtani Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. “There’s great talent in Japan,” Minasian said. “I've seen that league over the last 15-20 years, and it’s not a surprise the success they’ve been having over here.” Angels starters finished in the top-10 in ERA once (2022) only four starting pitchers made 30 starts in a single campaign It's been quite some time since the Los Angeles Angels were pleased with their starting pitching The Angels hope that Yusei Kikuchi can change that. Signed as a free agent this offseason to a three-year, $63 million deal, Kikuchi is expected to lead Los Angeles' rotation. There wasn’t much debate as to who would be the Opening Day starter The 33-year-old was one of the best starters in the league during the second half last year He won five of his 10 starts with the Houston Astros after being traded in late-July posting a 2.70 ERA with 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings The Angels believe he can continue to be dominant the sweeper pitch has become a phenomenon among pitchers several starters have incorporated it into their mix Sonny Gray and Paul Skenes are starting pitchers who've had significant success with a sweeper Kikuchi decided to give it a whirl and it's helped him in more ways than one this spring it could become a more common choice if it keeps fooling hitters “It’s a pitch I can keep in my back pocket kind of thing,” Kikuchi said Kikuchi threw only three sweepers in his last spring training start on March 21 Don't be surprised if that percentage increases in 2025 thanks in part to a new weapon It's hard to take too much stock into spring training but Kikuchi has looked every bit the part of an ace throughout his first camp with the Angels After getting roughed up by the Los Angeles Dodgers in his debut Kikuchi allowed two combined runs in his next two starts He delivered 13 strikeouts in those outings and increased his pitch count to 88 in his final tune up Kikuchi's overall track record in the MLB isn’t Hall of Fame worthy but he's pitched much better over the past two seasons The seventh-year veteran recorded a 5.02 ERA with a 2.37 strikeout to walk ratio across his first four MLB seasons he logged a 3.96 ERA with 20 wins and a 4.21 strikeout to walk ratio he's stayed healthy with 32 starts each season Kikuchi has ticked the boxes he felt were needed to be prepared for Opening Day Now it's time to show he can do it throughout an entire season Anything higher than his ninth-place finish in American League Cy Young Award voting last season would be a significant win for the Angels That might not be out of the realm of possibility ","https://fansided.com/",{"alt":"6d","src":"6e","url":"6f"},{"type":"6c","value":"6g"},"link","Minute Media","https://minutemedia.com",{"text":"6j","url":"6k"},{"type":"6i","value":"6l"},"All Rights Reserved Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Minute Media or its affiliates and related brands We're looking for Angels contributors! Can the veteran southpaw ride his momentum from last season to lead LA's pitching staff Kikuchi (0-4) took the loss against the Twins on Saturday allowing four runs on nine hits and four walks over two innings Kikuchi yielded three runs in the first frame off six singles (including four straight to start the game) and a walk The veteran southpaw gave up another run in the second inning and was lifted ahead of the third after tossing 66 pitches (37 strikes) and generating just three whiffs Saturday's outing was a stark contrast to his previous start against the Giants on April 20 when he tossed 5.1 innings without giving up an earned run Kikuchi is now up to a 4.31 ERA and 1.60 WHIP through 31.1 innings and his 18 walks is tied with Carlos Rodon for second most in the American League behind Charlie Morton (20) Breaking down the Yusei Kikuchi deal from all sidesNovember 25th We finally have our first major free agent deal of the offseason After a slow first few weeks of free agency, news broke on Monday morning that the Angels had agreed to a three-year, $63 million contract with left-hander who jumped from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball to the Majors in 2019 He pitched for the Mariners from 2019-21 (making his lone All-Star team in ‘21) Toronto dealt him at the 2024 Trade Deadline to Houston where Kikuchi authored one of the best stretches of his career to help the Astros nail down the AL West title He now joins the Angels, the busiest team of this young offseason looking to snap a 10-season playoff drought already acquired slugger Jorge Soler in a trade with the Braves and inked catcher Travis d’Arnaud infielder Kevin Newman and right-hander Kyle Hendricks to modest free-agent deals But Kikuchi is their most significant acquisition to date 2024: 32 GS, 175.2 IP, 4.05 ERA (99 ERA+), 3.46 FIP, 3.5 fWARCareer: 154 GS Here is a breakdown of this move from all angles What this means for the AngelsVia Angels beat writer Rhett Bollinger The Angels have been the most aggressive club in free agency this offseason and kept it up with their first big splash The deal is the largest since Perry Minasian became general manager in 2020 Kikuchi represents a solid upgrade to the rotation after the Angels also signed Hendricks to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million Kikuchi immediately becomes the club's best starting pitcher and can help the Angels compete after their 99-loss campaign in ‘24 Kikuchi joins a rotation that includes lefty Tyler Anderson, right-handers José Soriano and Jack Kochanowicz and Hendricks. The fifth spot is up for grabs and the Angels have several internal candidates, such as Reid Detmers, Chase Silseth, Caden Dana and Sam Aldegheri. MORE > What this means for the AstrosVia Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart The Astros were interested in a reunion and had made an offer to Kikuchi, whom they acquired in a July trade. He excelled after coming over from the Blue Jays, going 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 60 innings in 10 starts after the Astros altered his pitch usage but the Astros believed the price and years were too much for a mid-level starting pitcher like Kikuchi Hot Stove implicationsVia senior national reporter Mark Feinsand The Angels were among the teams in the market for a starting pitcher His signing takes one of the second-tier starters off the market potentially setting the price range for some of the others in that group including Jack Flaherty Kikuchi is the first starting pitching domino to fall but there are still plenty of pitchers out there for teams looking to upgrade their rotations Last year’s Angels rotation had the third-highest ERA in MLB, and 2025’s Angels rotation was, as of Sunday evening, projected to be the fourth-weakest in baseball they desperately needed starting pitching – even if it’s not quite clear if this winter’s early-offseason strategy of signing lots of low-to-mid-level veterans with names you know is what’s going to get the team back from 99 losses to its first winning season since 2015 Kikuchi likely becomes their Opening Day starter which is both a reflection of how strong he was after being traded to the Astros last summer and how weak the incumbent Halos group was The left-hander has always been a talented-yet-frustrating pitcher interspersing periods of quality with three different seasons with an ERA north of 5.00 But Kikuchi more than doubled his slider usage with Houston and saw his strikeout rate jump from 26% to 32% 25.9%: That was the gap between Kikuchi’s strikeout rate (31.8%) and walk rate (5.9%) after joining the Astros, an improvement of more than 10 percentage points from his career K%-BB% at the time of the trade (15.3%). Of 69 qualifying pitchers from Aug. 1 through the end of the 2024 season, Kikuchi ranked fifth in MLB in that category, trailing only Blake Snell, Logan Gilbert, Zack Wheeler and AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. players are typically still knocking off the rust from a long winter it takes a little while to settle into the groove For the Angels' big-ticket free-agent acquisition things have not yet gone as the team hoped 2024 was a tale of two seasons for Kikuchi; pre-trade deadline he logged 115.2 innings and posted a 4.75 ERA with the Toronto Blue Jays he posted a 2.70 ERA in 60 innings as a member of the Houston Astros A large part of his turnaround in Houston was attributed to him adjusting his pitch mix, and the Angels are banking on that version of Kikuchi being the one that now takes the mound in Anaheim the move to sign Kikuchi was not without risk The 33-year-old came into 2025 with a career 4.57 ERA over his six-year career While a sub-3 ERA finish to the 2024 season was encouraging it didn't erase the fact that he's had three seasons with an ERA over 5.00 versus just one with an ERA under 4.00 Kikuchi has never been a pitcher known for his command can result in walks and mistakes being launched a long way it's been more of the latter for the southpaw His swinging strike rate has dropped from 12.8% last year to 9.9% in 2025 That drop is largely because batters are chasing his pitches outside of the zone less swinging at such offerings 21.3% of the time versus 28.5% last season The veteran has also seen his fastball look a bit more sluggish his average fastball velocity in 2024 was 95.5 miles per hour and has now dropped over one mile per hours down to 94.4 miles per hour this year currently sitting at 8.25 K/9 on the year against a 10.55 mark from last season he's surrendering long balls at an alarming rate of 2.25 HR/9 up from last year's mark of 1.28 With the bullpen running on fumes in the series finale against the Cardinals the Angels were counting on their ace to give them a dominant performance they got six innings of three-run ball that saw Kikuchi walk five batters and consistently work in and out of jams Ron Washington ultimately had to call on his depleted pen coming off back-to-back extra-inning games A true ace takes the hill and puts the team on his back in a situation like this whereas Kikuchi did just enough not to be the prime scapegoat but while Kikuchi has carried over his new pitch mix his decreased velocity and inability to generate swings-and-misses are concerning Perhaps he just needs time to build his arm back up or perhaps he's not the ace Angels fans were promised ","https://fansided.com/",{"alt":"6e","src":"6f","url":"6g"},{"type":"6d","value":"6h"},"link","Minute Media","https://minutemedia.com",{"text":"6k","url":"6l"},{"type":"6j","value":"6m"},"All Rights Reserved and a Contributor at various other FanSided MLB sites Stephen is also the host of the Bleav in Angels Podcast and has also spent time covering the Brooklyn Nets and New York Jets for empiresportsmedia.com When not consuming sports and producing content A large part of his turnaround in Houston was attributed to him adjusting his pitch mix, and the Angels are banking on that version of Kikuchi being the one that now takes the mound in Anaheim. While you can see the logic, the move to sign Kikuchi was not without risk. The 33-year-old came into 2025 with a career 4.57 ERA over his six-year career. While a sub-3 ERA finish to the 2024 season was encouraging, it didn't erase the fact that he's had three seasons with an ERA over 5.00 versus just one with an ERA under 4.00. Kikuchi has never been a pitcher known for his command. His pitches feature a ton of movement, which, when he's on, serve to keep hitters off-balance, and when he's not, can result in walks and mistakes being launched a long way. Through two starts, it's been more of the latter for the southpaw. His swinging strike rate has dropped from 12.8% last year to 9.9% in 2025. That drop is largely because batters are chasing his pitches outside of the zone less, swinging at such offerings 21.3% of the time versus 28.5% last season. The veteran has also seen his fastball look a bit more sluggish. Per Statcast, his average fastball velocity in 2024 was 95.5 miles per hour and has now dropped over one mile per hours down to 94.4 miles per hour this year. As a result, Kikuchi's strikeouts are down, currently sitting at 8.25 K/9 on the year against a 10.55 mark from last season. His walks are up, with his BB% rising from 6% to 10.2%. Perhaps most concerningly, he's surrendering long balls at an alarming rate of 2.25 HR/9 up from last year's mark of 1.28. With the bullpen running on fumes in the series finale against the Cardinals, the Angels were counting on their ace to give them a dominant performance. Instead, they got six innings of three-run ball that saw Kikuchi walk five batters and consistently work in and out of jams. Ron Washington ultimately had to call on his depleted pen, and the overworked relievers, coming off back-to-back extra-inning games, turned a slim lead into a lopsided loss. A true ace takes the hill and puts the team on his back in a situation like this, whereas Kikuchi did just enough not to be the prime scapegoat. It's still early in the season, but while Kikuchi has carried over his new pitch mix, his decreased velocity and inability to generate swings-and-misses are concerning. Perhaps he just needs time to build his arm back up, or perhaps he's not the ace Angels fans were promised. Write for us. Write for us (contributors). We're looking for Angels contributors!. light The veteran lefty was brought in to be an ace for the Angels after a dominant second-half campaign in 2024, but so far he's yet to live up to his billing. Kikuchi's game results against the Dodgers were not necessarily spectacular -- he allowed a home run to Shohei Ohtani (who hasn't?) plus another run in the first inning before being pulled for Camden Minacci he was reinserted into the game (which is allowed in spring training) and went up 6-up and the most tantalizing punch out came on a back-door sweeper against the right-handed hitting Will Smith He also generated a whiff with the sweeper against the left-handed hitting Ohtani Per MLB.com's David Adler: "Compare Kikuchi's slider to his sweeper this spring: the slider is averaging 87 mph with only two inches of break, while the sweeper is averaging 81 mph with 16 inches of break." Kikuchi now has three breaking balls -- the Astros re-modeled his slider to great effect and now he has this new sweeper -- to go with his fastball that averages 95.5mph and an underrated changeup with solid arm-side run His ability to now tunnel his bullet slider with this wipeout sweeper will completely unlock his already top-notch K% Many fans pointed to Kikuchi's bloated career ERA as an argument for why the Angels overpaid for him in the offseason -- that does not matter Using that stat as an evaluation method is outdated and pretty close to non-sensical with all these more objective metrics at our disposal Does he allow a semi-concerning amount of hard hit balls Will his refined arsenal help him mitigate those moving forward with the Angels When the Angels signed Kikuchi to be their bona fide ace others pointed to Kikuchi being overly reliant on his fastball and slider combination as a reason why he should not necessarily be a team's no Top starters often use 3-5 pitches with confidence in any count he can truly be both a North-South and East-West pitcher that can constantly change up what a hitter sees throughout the course an outing He will likely get 30" of horizontal separation with his changeup and sweeper AND 30" of vertical separation with his fastball and curveball...and that does not even include the slider Could Yusei Kikuchi get to heights that were once reached by Ohtani and Jered Weaver Kikuchi could easily pitch his way into Cy Young contention if he continues to master the sweeper and the fastball and slider remain elite Kikuchi's game results against the Dodgers were not necessarily spectacular -- he allowed a home run to Shohei Ohtani (who hasn't?) Per MLB.com's David Adler: "Compare Kikuchi's slider to his sweeper this spring: the slider is averaging 87 mph with only two inches of break, while the sweeper is averaging 81 mph with 16 inches of break." Kikuchi now has three breaking balls -- the Astros re-modeled his slider to great effect Could Yusei Kikuchi get to heights that were once reached by Ohtani and Jered Weaver? Sure, why not? Kikuchi could easily pitch his way into Cy Young contention if he continues to master the sweeper and the fastball and slider remain elite. Kikuchi is a stud, and he's only getting better with age. The Angels' Opening Day starter, Yusei Kikuchi, will soon win the hearts of many fans as he refines and bolsters his pitch arsenal Dillon Dingler capped a five-run eighth inning with a three-run homer, Javier Báez and Gleyber Torres each hit a solo shot in the third, and the Detroit Tigers rallied for a 10-4 win Thursday night. Spencer Torkelson added a two-run homer — his ninth of the season — in a three-run ninth as Detroit improved to an American League-best 20-12. Tigers starter Casey Mize (5-1) gave up four runs and seven hits in seven innings, including Logan O’Hoppe’s solo homer in the second and Jorge Soler’s two-run shot in the third. Angels Mike Trout leaves Angels’ loss to Seattle early with a sore knee, but says after game he plans to play Thursday. Detroit trailed 4-2 in the eighth when Torres, who had three hits, singled off reliever Ryan Zeferjahn, who had retired the side in order in the seventh. Angels manager Ron Washington summoned left-hander Reid Detmers (0-2), who walked Riley Greene and gave up an RBI single to Andy Ibáñez. Angels center fielder Jo Adell fumbled Ibáñez’s hit for an error, allowing two runners to advance. One out later, Zach McKinstry lined a single that tied it and Dingler, who had three hits, drove a 409-foot homer to left for a 7-4 lead. Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi gave up two runs and five hits in five innings, striking out five and walking one. Trout did not play after being pulled from Wednesday’s game in Seattle because of left knee soreness. Trout, who had two operations to repair a torn meniscus in the knee last season, was injured when his foot hit first base on a third-inning groundout. Washington later said Trout has a bone bruise in the knee and would go on the 10-day IL. Washington said the injury “is not serious” but that Trout “needs some rest.” Trout had not missed a game, appearing in the first 29. Last year he appeared in 29 games before tearing his meniscus and missing the rest of the season. He’s hitting .173 this season with nine home runs and 18 RBIs. Key moment: Báez, the Tigers’ shortstop-turned-center fielder, made a leaping catch of Soler’s fifth-inning drive above the yellow line on the wall in right-center to take away a home run. Key stat: Soler’s two-run shot in the third was the Angels’ second homer with a runner on base since April 10. Of the team’s 43 home runs, 33 have been solo shots. Up next: Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal (3-2, 2.34 ERA), the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, starts Friday night against Angels right-hander José Soriano (2-4, 4.50). Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map FILE - Houston Astros starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi throws against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi and the Los Angeles Angels have agreed to a $63 million a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press The person spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because the deal The 33-year-old Kikuchi gets $21 million annually during the contract which raises his Major League Baseball earnings to $142 million over nine seasons Kikuchi was 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 10 starts with the Astros striking out 76 and walking 14 in 60 innings His four-seam fastball averaged 95.5 mph this year He is 41-47 with a 4.57 ERA in six seasons with Seattle (2019-21) their ninth straight losing season and first since losing Shohei Ohtani in free agency to the Dodgers They have not reached the playoffs since 2014 Sean Burke will be the 7th pitcher in the last 100 years to start Opening Day having thrown fewer than 20 IP prior joining:1981 Fernando Valenzuela (18 IP)1951 Tom Poholsky (15)1944 Preacher Roe (3)1944 Hal Gregg (19)1937 Eddie Smith (19)1929 Carroll Yerkes (10) Angels-White Sox Opening Day starting pitchers: Kikuchi vs The White Sox and Angels lost a combined 220 times during the 2024 season, with Chicago’s total of 121 setting a single-season record in the Modern Era (since 1901) Both teams are hoping for a level of improvement as they meet to start the ‘25 campaign Opening Day takes place on March 27 at Rate Field Manager Ron Washington returns to the helm for the Angels while Mike Trout returns to their lineup after just 126 plate appearances in 2024 while Will Venable takes over as the sixth Chicago manager since ‘20 Angels: LHP Previous Opening Days starts: None2024 season: 9-10 The Angels signed Kikuchi to a three-year, $63 million deal in late November, and he was announced as their Opening Day starter early in camp as Kikuchi was brought in to lead the staff and will get the nod in the regular-season opener for the first time in his six-year career Kikuchi called it an honor and wants to get the Angels off on the right foot to open the year Kikuchi, 33, is coming off a solid season, especially after he was traded from the Blue Jays to the Astros at the Trade Deadline. He leaned heavily on his slider in his 10 starts with Houston and posted a 2.70 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 60 innings for the club. He said he plans to utilize his slider often this season and has also incorporated a sweeper into his pitch mix Kikuchi possesses sneaky good fastball velocity White Sox: RHP Previous Opening Days starts: None2024 season: 2-0 to handle this sort of high-profile situation without flinching Burke is just two years removed from being the No 30 spot in 2024 following an up-and-down ‘23 season in which he was limited to nine starts with Triple-A Charlotte due to right rotator cuff tendinitis his stuff feels good and he added a two-seamer to his existing repertoire of four-seam “I’m really excited about all those guys and what they have done and what they have accomplished,” Venable said of his starters but really all these guys were worthy candidates.” Japanese left-hander Yusei Kikuchi will be the Los Angeles Angels' Opening Day starter on March 27 against the Chicago White Sox It will be the first time in Major League Baseball for three Japanese pitchers to start on their teams' opening days in the same season Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Shota Imanaga of the Chicago Cubs are scheduled to pitch when the teams meet at Tokyo Dome on March 18 The Angels signed the 33-year-old Kikuchi to a three-year deal this offseason after helping the Houston Astros win the American League West division title last year Kikuchi will take the mound on Opening Day for the first time in his major league career "I feel that the level and value of Japanese pitchers are on the rise," Kikuchi said "I've always wanted to pitch on Opening Day It's important to stay in the rotation all year I hope to get off to a good start and try to stay fit to have at least 32 starts this year." Baseball: Yusei Kikuchi signs 3-year, $63 million deal with Angels Baseball: Japanese lefty Yusei Kikuchi agrees to 3-yr Angels deal: reports Baseball: Kikuchi's Astros crash while Tigers, Padres advance To have the latest news and stories delivered to your inbox Simply enter your email address below and an email will be sent through which to complete your subscription Please check your inbox for a confirmation email Thank you for reaching out to us.We will get back to you as soon as possible (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels are rebuilding from the worst season in franchise history and they think Yusei Kikuchi will be a solid piece of their new foundation The veteran left-hander and the Angels finalized a $63 million adding another veteran arm to the Halos’ revamped rotation The 33-year-old Kikuchi gets $21 million annually Angels general manager Perry Minasian said the team valued Kikuchi’s durability and strike-throwing consistency in their decision to make a hefty financial commitment to him “Biggest commitment I’ve made since I’ve been here but I felt like we needed to add a rotation piece that could slot everybody down.” “Strong finish with Houston after the trade,” Minasian said It’s somebody that I think is going to be a welcomed addition and somebody that I’m excited about.” Kikuchi is 41-47 with a 4.57 ERA in six major league seasons with Seattle (2019-21) He famously attended Hanamaki Higashi High School in northern Japan three years ahead of former Angels star Shohei Ohtani The Angels have been the most aggressive team in baseball so far this offseason as they seek a fresh start from their 63-99 season Soriano and Hendricks are “pretty safe to be in the rotation,” and the Angels will figure out the details in spring training The GM also emphasized that it will be a five-man rotation after years of a six-man rotation in Anaheim to provide extra rest to Ohtani we’ve been pretty aggressive,” Minasian said We’ll look to attack all those areas and improve this club.” The Angels endured their ninth straight losing season — the longest active streak in the majors — after losing Ohtani in free agency to the Dodgers last winter Yusei Kikuchi threw the most first-pitch strikes (65%) in his time in MLB helping him post the most strikeouts (205) of his career and he's had an ERA under 4.00 once in his six years in the majors Yusei Kikuchi collects strikeout No. 13, a new career high. 👏 pic.twitter.com/VpXBm45Ej6 2025 Yusei Kikuchi Pitching Stats Profile / Shawn ChildsKikuchi emerged as a viable fantasy option after four failed seasons in the majors (21-31 with a 5.02 ERA and 450 strikeouts over 466.1 innings) over the past two years His improvement came from a much better walk rate in 2023 (2.6) and 2024 (2.3) with the latter leading to a push higher in his strikeout rate (10.6) he set career highs in innings pitched (175.2) and strikeouts (206) Kikuchi opened the season with an excellent first 10 starts (2.64 ERA The direction of his arm nosedived over his following 12 games (45 runs and 13 home runs over 57.2 innings with 69 strikeouts) due to giving up four runs or more in seven of these contests The Astros made a trade for him in late July and he turned into an ace over 60.0 innings (5-1 with a 2.70 ERA Kikuchi served up 20 of his 25 home runs to right-handed batters (.248 BAA) His average fastball (95.5) was the best of his career He upped his curveball usage (18.6%) after retiring the pitch from 2020 through 2022 Kikuchi threw fewer sliders (.211 BAA) and four-seam fastballs (.268 BAA) His changeup (.194 BAA) remains his fourth option despite its winning success against righties Fantasy Outlook: Kikuchi ranked 40th in FPGscore (-0.29) for starting pitchers last year His growth late last season was impressive The move to the Angels doesn’t excite me due to LA being projected to have a losing record and possibly leaving him in a few games too long any regression command will lead to earlier exits Anyone draw to his strikeouts could get crushed by his WHIP in 2025 Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates Astros remain unblemished with Kikuchi on the moundSeptember 14th ANAHEIM -- was well aware of what Astros fans -- and pretty much everybody else -- thought of the July trade that brought him from Toronto in exchange for three prospects The deal was met largely by cynics and naysayers citing Kikuchi’s mediocre numbers with the Blue Jays and the high cost of acquiring him MLB Network is always on and I see everything everyone is saying,” he said The opinions of the trade are much different six weeks after as Kikuchi has become an instrumental part of Houston’s playoff push. He held the Angels to three runs and three hits while striking out six batters in seven innings to remain unbeaten in a Houston uniform and send the Astros to a 5-3 victory Friday night at Angel Stadium I heard a lot of what the fans had to say and stuff,” Kikuchi said I just want to prove to everybody what I’m capable of but obviously we have one goal in mind as a team -- and that’s just to win the World Series.” Kikuchi is 5-0 with a 3.19 ERA and 0.94 WHIP while allowing 33 hits and 12 walks and striking out 59 batters in 48 innings in eight starts for the Astros Kikuchi is approaching Randy Johnson (1998) Justin Verlander (2017) and Zack Greinke (2019) as one of Houston’s most influential in-season starting pitching pickups “We knew that it was in there,” Astros manager Joe Espada said “I’m just glad that he’s been receptive and been able to be open to the adjustments we want him to make with pitch usage and stuff like that it just feels like he’s been here for many The Astros got homers from Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez and closer Josh Hader slammed the door for his 30th save of the season The win was the 5,000th in Houston franchise history which dates to the expansion Colt .45s in 1962 and allowed the Astros to stay 4 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Mariners in the American League West with 15 games remaining Prior to the trade, Kikuchi regularly featured both a slider and a curveball. But since joining the Astros, he has increased his slider usage while rarely throwing his slower curve, the less effective of the two breaking balls. While he was with Toronto, right-handed batters hit .280 with a .441 slugging against Kikuchi. But with Houston, he has limited righties to a .173 batting average and .315 slugging. Kikuchi threw 33 sliders and 33 four-seamers Friday from his 85-pitch outing. “When it leaves the hand it looks just very similar to the fastball and then, last minute, it goes away from lefties and into the righties, and is a very difficult pitch,” Espada said of the slider. “You’re thinking 96 [mph] fastball and all of a sudden, there's 88, 89 [mph] slider. You don’t have that much time to think. You just have to react, and he’s able to locate it wherever he wants to.” The Astros went ahead, 2-0, in the second inning on a bases-loaded walk to Jose Altuve and sacrifice fly by Alvarez. Bregman’s 23rd homer of the year, a two-run drive off Samuel Aldegheri, made it 4-0 in the third. Kikuchi walked the eight- and nine-hole hitters to start the third inning, and both wound up scoring. He gave up a homer to Mickey Moniak in the fourth that cut the lead to 4-3, but Kikuchi set down 13 of the final 14 batters he faced, including the final 10 in a row. “He’s been awesome for us,” Bregman said. “I mean, obviously, facing him, we knew how good his stuff was. And definitely when you get a guy of his caliber, you hope for big things, and he’s come through and answered the call every time.” “Obviously, it’s a business, and we all understand that,” Kikuchi said. “I was shocked, myself, that this team gave up three prospects, as well. At the end of the day, I just want to prove that, yeah, Dana Brown, he made an unbelievable trade.” Print TEMPE Major League Baseball began asking clubs to refrain from announcing opening-day starters until the final week of spring training in hopes that a coordinated release of the opening-day pitching matchups would drum up more interest and intrigue in the games “It’s obvious,” Washington said as the team held its second-to-last workout before Saturday’s Cactus League opener against the Seattle Mariners. “We just signed him to a big contract. We didn’t bring him here to be No. 4 or 5 [starter]. We didn’t bring him here to be a three or a two. We brought him here to lead our staff.” Kikuchi, a 33-year-old veteran with a 41-47 career record and 4.57 ERA in 166 games over six big-league seasons, went 4-9 with a 4.75 ERA in 22 starts with the Toronto Blue Jays last season but was dominant after being traded in late July to the Houston Astros, going 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 10 starts for the American League West champions. Sports On May 16, 2023, Anaheim’s City Council authorized a stadium evaluation for $325,000. Almost two years later, the project is not complete. It might not be complete for another year. “Very happy and honored … but it is just one game,” Kikuchi, speaking through an interpreter, said of his first major league opening-day assignment. “What’s most important is staying healthy over 32 starts in a season and putting up the numbers. That’s what I’m more focused on.” Mike DiGiovanna is a former sports writer at the Los Angeles Times who contributed to the coverage of the Dodgers, Angels and Chargers. He won Associated Press Sports Editors awards for feature-story writing in 2017 and game-story writing in 2001 and Orange County Press Club Awards for feature and game-story writing in 1996 and 1997. A native of East Lyme, Conn., and a graduate of Cal State Fullerton, he began writing for The Times in 1981 and retired in 2025. which means it’s time for us to visit the bump on Hump Day and discuss starting pitcher news I’ll be taking a deeper look at a few trending/surging starting pitchers to see what is changing and whether or not we should be investing in this hot stretch The article will be similar to the series I ran for a few years called Mixing It Up (previously Pitchers With New Pitches and Should We Care?) where I broke down new pitches to see if there were truly meaningful additions that changed a pitcher’s outlook the premise will remain the same: trying to see if the recent results we’re seeing are connected to any meaningful changes that make them worth buying into or if they’re just mirages I’ll try and cover at least four starters and give my clear take on whether I would add them Most of the charts you see below are courtesy of Kyle Bland over at Pitcher List He created a great spring training app (which he’s now carried over into the regular season) that tracks changes in velocity It also has a great strike zone plot feature which allows you to see how the whole arsenal plays together “If he can just throw strikes with the fastball we’ll be OK.” It’s the same logic that led me to Jose Soriano in many drafts this is a Marlins staff with a new manager and a new performance and data integration strategist which means plenty of changes in the philosophy of the pitching staff what did we see from Cabrera that was different Cabrera has shifted his attack plan pretty dramatically but he cut his four-seam usage more than in half and led with his breaking balls particularly leaning into his slider far more than he did in 2024 I like those changes because the biggest issue we had with Cabrera was that his four-seam fastball command was poor it was mainly down the middle with almost a 10% mistake rate and nearly 50% Ideal Contact Rate (ICR) which is a Pitcher List stat that measures barrels and solid contact and hard groundballs allowed The four-seamer has consistently graded out as Cabrera’s worst pitch so throwing it less is something we should be happy about Provided he can get strikes with his other pitches Cabrera tightened up his slider this season keeping the same velocity and vertical movement but dialing back the horizontal break That could be a one-game small sample size or it could be a concerted effort to make it a pitch he can command in the zone Cabrera used the pitch early in the count 75% of the time to righties the pitch had an above-average 50% zone rate and 69% strike rate so the one-game sample seems to suggest that it is a pitch he can command and is a pitch he feels confident in throwing for strikes which he can command in the zone better than his four-seamer so he has two pitches now to righties that he can use to pound the zone early and get ahead in the count without relying on his four-seam fastball That sinker is going to be less useful to lefties and the new usage of the slider means it’s not missing many bats but that’s where the other new wrinkle comes in Cabrera drastically changed his curveball in the offseason his new curveball was one mph slower than the one he threw last year but featured nearly double the amount of vertical and horizontal break He went from eight inches of horizontal break and just over seven inches of vertical break on an 85 mph curve to over 11" of horizontal break and 14" of vertical break it was an incredibly impactful one in that first start We can also see a usage plan shaping up here he threw the curveball in the zone at almost double the rate he did against righties and he kept it in the lower third of the strike zone 64% of the time to lefties while doing so 83% of the time to righties that suggests the curve could be his early-strike breaking ball to lefties and more of a swing-and-miss pitch to righties; yet it missed bats to hitters of both handedness in the first start Using the curve and sporadic four-seam fastball to get ahead of lefties sets up his elite changeup which he leaned into far more in his first start but 42% against lefties after being 32% last year Cabrera has never thrown over 100 innings in an MLB season Who knows if they’ll last into the next few starts but if this is the version of Edward Cabrera that we get in 2025 I’ll have to do a lot fewer mental gymnastics to talk myself into rostering him I wanted to talk about Ben Brown quickly because I know there is a lot of buzz around him after his start against the Dodgers where he went six shutout innings and allowed five hits while walking five and striking out five I hate to be here to pour cold water on that performance with 22 hits and a 20:9 K:BB ratio in 17.2 innings which gives him a 10.7% walk rate to go along with a 23.8% strikeout rate His 12.9% swinging strike rate (SwStr%) is above average but he’s also giving up a lot of hard contact so the case for Brown is simply: he pitched well against the Dodgers After seeing how he did what he did against the Dodgers Brown ended the illusion that he throws three pitches by not throwing the changeup at all against the Dodgers He’s only thrown eight changeups in three starts and while it might be a pitch he feels confident in using down the stretch The main driving factor behind his success against the Dodgers was his ability to fill up the zone for strikes He had his highest zone rate and strike rate of the season Brown threw the four-seam fastball more often but threw it in the middle of the zone more often he threw 14.3% of his fastballs middle-middle The MLB average for four-seam fastballs thrown middle-middle last year was 7.4% So Brown essentially threw double the percentage of middle-middle fastballs that a starting pitcher typically did last year and did it against the best team in baseball doesn’t seem like a great strategy long-term He also had just a 5.4% SwStr% on his four-seam fastball against the Dodgers So he was throwing middle-middle fastballs The Dodgers had a 90% zone contact rate on his fastball with a .333 average and a 50% ICR What is good is that he located his curveball well against them with a much higher zone rate and strike rate than he’s had in any other start this season but it didn’t give up much hard contact and earned six called strikes Brown succeeded by only throwing two pitches throwing his fastball over the middle of the plate far more often and missing fewer bats but getting more outs in play All while featuring a below-average fastball and a good curveball I know he’s likely going to be in the starting rotation for a while with Justin Steele out for the year but I can’t trust a two-pitch pitcher with one good pitch I know it might seem weird to say that after what he just did against the Dodgers but I think that statline is entirely misleading Javier Assad is starting a rehab assignment so don’t be surprised if Brown loses his rotation spot if he struggles in his next few starts Another pitcher who may have “gotten away with it” in his last start was Shane Smith Smith has also allowed just four earned runs on nine hits in 17.2 innings this season so it’s probably time we look into how he’s doing what he’s doing Smith leads off his arsenal with a four-seam fastball that averages 94.4 mph and is used to both righties and lefties as righties post a 60% ICR against it and Smith does a far worse job getting it inside (more on that later) He also throws a lot of fastballs down the middle to both hitters with a 12.5% middle-middle rate to righties and a nearly 19% mark to lefties That supports what I saw about the Red Sox with the Boston hitters simply getting under plenty of fastballs that were over the heart of the plate Smith doesn’t have great shape or elite velocity on his fastball so I don’t love his attack plan or reliance on that pitch so much he also leans heavily on a slider to righties and a change-up to lefties he has only used the changeup 9.5% of the time to righties and only used the slider 10% of the time to lefties so these are pretty much matchup pitches to hitters of a certain handedness The slider is not giving up any hard contact to righties but it doesn’t miss many bats with just a 10.5% SwStr% to righties this season the changeup has been a strong pitch to lefties but weirdly is giving up a lot of hard contact and doesn’t miss as many bats as I think it should with its movement profile Shane Smith, Disgusting 92mph Changeup. 🤮1st MLB K. And absolutely filthy. pic.twitter.com/qnzhKYLZLD Part of that could simply be that he uses it mainly early in the count to lefties so he wants it in the zone for groundouts rather than out of the zone for swinging strikes but I think that movement profile at 92 mph is a pitch that he can use more as a two-strike pitch and more often against righties as well it could easily operate like a splitfinger and miss plenty of bats which is kind of what he needs against righties because the slider isn’t that pitch and his curve is seldom used and also doesn’t miss bats The last piece of the puzzle is a new pitch we saw against the Red Sox: the sinker his four-seam fastball gets hit hard by righties the four-seam does have a well-above-average swinging strike rate to righties so if he can use another fastball for strikes to righties and then get chases up and out of the zone with the four-seamer that could be the missing piece to right-handed hitters which he doesn’t do enough with his four-seam fastball so I kind of dig this new addition if he can lean into it more I think Smith is an intriguing pitcher with one truly elite pitch and a collection of other offerings that could easily set him up for success and the sinker needs to bring more swing-and-miss to righties but this is a Rule 5 pick who the Brewers moved from the bullpen to the rotation just last year but it wouldn’t shock me if Smith became a far more dynamic pitcher in the second half of this season Yusei Kikuchi seemed to unlock a new level in the second half of 2024 and 31% strikeout rate in 69.2 innings with the Astros A huge component of that was him leaning into his slider more throwing it 31% of the time in the second half after using it just 17% of the time in the first half The slider posted a nearly 16% swinging strike rate in the second half of the season and allowed him to put his less reliable curveball on the back burner It seemed like an easy plan for him to replicate in 2025 I worried that he was with an organization that couldn’t stay out of its own way with pitcher development and would either change him for the worse or not be able to identify why Kickuhi was going through a tough stretch as he has been proned to do in his MLB career allowing 10 earned runs on 15 hits in 18 innings while striking out 16 and walking eight The 5.00 ERA and 21.6% strikeout rate are far worse than anything we’ve seen from him in years so I wanted to dig in to see if anything was different This chart from Alex Chamberlain’s Pitch Leaderboard shows a few things that stand out to me Kikuchi has dropped his arm angle significantly so Kikuchi has dropped his arm angle almost 10 degrees which has led to an overall shift in the movement profile of his pitches He has lost some of his vertical attack angles and movement in favor of horizontal movement especially on both his four-seamer and slider much of that could simply be a result of releasing his pitches from a lower arm angle but why he lowered his arm angle in the first place is the question A 10-degree difference is not just a small sample size difference but his SwStr% is the lowest it’s been since 2019 and his strike rate is at a career low mark which could also be why he has a nearly 11% walk rate he’s getting fewer chases out of the zone than he ever has since coming over from Japan Maybe he’s struggling to adjust to the new arm angle or the new action on his pitches but they’re not missing bats and not being commanded for strikes my biggest concern is that the slider has a new movement profile and has also been performing poorly he is throwing his slider nearly two mph slower and has more than doubled the vertical break to 4.3 inches The pitch is in the strike zone more often than last year and getting more called strikes but it has just a 7.7% SwStr% and a well below-average PutAway Rate which measures how often a pitch thrown in a two-strike count leads to a strikeout He has also only thrown the slider in two-strike counts 19% of the time this year after using it 39% of the time in two-strike counts last year Kikuchi has changed the shape of his slider which was the pitch that drove his success last year He has made it more hittable and started to use it more often early in the count for called strikes and stopped using it late in the count for swings and misses which feels entirely unnecessary and may also be the reason why he wants more vertical movement on his slider and they give me real pause about rostering Kikcuhi in most formats right now Yusei Kikuchi had a solid start on Tuesday night against the Rangers and did it by leading with his slider 47% of the time He also didn’t have the same drop on his slider posting a vertical movement profile much closer to what we saw last year Perhaps those first three starts were just a “figuring it out” process for Kikuchi with this new arm angle it’s important to note that Kikychi threw 11 total pitches against lefties in this game because Texas stacked their lineup with righties That could impact why his pitch mix looks different in this game four whiffs and a 21.6% CSW on the slider isn’t that good in the grand scheme of things and his four-seam fastball still has less vertical movement and velocity from last year This still feels like a pitcher I’d rather not have on my roster Changes like that don’t simply click overnight so it’s entirely possible that Ortiz’s early struggles were connected to getting a feel for who Cleveland wants him to be and his last strong start is an indication that he’s beginning to get more comfortable Before we get into his last start specifically we should talk about the changes Ortiz has made overall this year The biggest change is in how he attacks lefties Ortiz used his four-seamer 31.5% of the time to lefties That led to a pretty pedestrian 9.5% K-BB% and 9.1% SwStr% even though he didn’t give up a lot of hard contact He responded to that this season by adding back his changeup at 17.5% usage to lefties and slider to 13% while throwing the four-seam fastball almost 42% of the time that has led to a 14.7% SwStr% to lefties and a 19.3% K-BB% thrown at 89 mph with little vertical break and 16.5” arm-side run PLV grades it out as a slightly above-average offering because he commands it in the zone well and does a good job of keeping it low I think the bigger driver of his success against lefties has been the decision to mix up the locations of his cutter and slider he threw the cutter inside to lefties 54% of the time but threw it in the upper third of the strike zone 39% of the time he’s throwing the cutter inside just 27% of the time (literally cut in half) while using it up in the zone 65% of the time which he threw inside to lefties 49% of the time last year and is throwing inside 19% of the time this year That jives with exactly what Carl Willis said to me this spring about Ortiz: “What we’re trying to work towards is more consistency with [the cutter] particularly more consistency with the location of that pitch That’s part of the reason it played last year because the guys hadn’t seen it Now we’re just trying to refine it a little bit to show him what zones it’s actually successful in and where he should hone in on commanding that particular pitch not making mistakes with it in other areas of the strike zone.” Ortiz’s cutter has a 38.5% called strike rate to lefties as he works it more on the outside part of the plate as a backdoor pitch The slider has also seen a jump in swinging strike rate and doubled its called strike rate Being able to locate those pitches over the plate for strikes and not only pound them inside for weak contact has set up the other big change for Ortiz: four-seam fastball location As Nick Pollack pointed out on our last episode of “On the Corner,” Ortiz used the four-seamer up in the zone 60% of the time against the Royals up from a combined 29% of the time in his first two starts The four-seam fastball had a 24% SwStr% for Ortiz overall in that start and has an 18% mark against lefties so far in 2025 after posting an 8.3% mark in 2024 So Ortiz is locking his cutter and slider in the strike zone more and then getting the four-seamer up in the zone over it That’s not only allowing him to get ahead but also shifting the batter’s eye level down in the zone or down and away in the zone and then coming upstairs with a 96 mph four-seamer with solid extension That’s a recipe for success and one I think will make Ortiz far more likely to finish as the pitcher we saw in his last start than the one we saw in his first start A Division of NBCUniversal DISCLAIMER: This site and the products offered are for entertainment purposes only and there is no gambling offered on this site This service is intended for adult audiences No guarantees are made for any specific outcome Kikuchi doing it all for Astros: 'The energy you feel it'Houston moves to 9-0 in lefty's starts giving veteran his own place in franchise historySeptember 20th HOUSTON -- No matter what becomes of the three young players the Astros shipped to Toronto prior to the Trade Deadline to acquire veteran left-hander the club can say the deal -- initially met with criticism by fans and media -- has served its purpose and then some Kikuchi has been as instrumental as any player in the Astros’ finishing kick toward a seventh American League West title in eight seasons, with the team improving to 9-0 in games he’s started after a 3-1 win over the Angels on Thursday night at Minute Maid Park my mindset was ‘I’m going to win every game for this ballclub every time out there on the mound,’” Kikuchi said but just got to say thanks to the defense that’s behind me the offense that continues to hit in big spots The Astros (83-70) are five games ahead of the second-place Mariners in the American League West They can clinch their seventh consecutive division title played in a full season as early as Sunday but they’re not ready to buy champagne just yet "We do understand what’s in our hands and it’s nice to be in that spot,” veteran outfielder Jason Heyward said It’s yours to take and I think that’s just our focus -- one day at a time." who was also an in-season addition for the Astros -- they signed him as a free agent on Aug 29 -- made a diving catch in left field on the final play of the game preserving Josh Hader’s 32nd save while giving Houston its fifth win over the Angels in the past eight games Astros first baseman Jon Singleton ripped a two-run two-out double to left field in the eighth off reliever Ryan Miller to score Yordan Alvarez and Yainer Diaz Houston was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position prior to Singleton’s hit “That was a huge knock there,” Astros manager Joe Espada said He’s the right guy for that spot against that particular pitcher and he came through with a big hit." Singleton’s game-winning hit came after the Angels intentionally walked Victor Caratini. It was the second consecutive home game in which he had a go-ahead, two-out RBI in the eighth inning (Sept. 12 vs. Oakland) but there’s something inside that kind of gets excited and kind of gets annoyed at the same time,” Singleton said “I’m just glad I can come through for the team.” Kikuchi allowed one run and five hits while striking out nine batters in six innings The only run he allowed came on a leadoff homer by Taylor Ward on the sixth pitch of the game retiring 17 of the final 20 batters he faced "It took him a while to get his stuff going,” Espada said he wanted that fastball up and it stayed down I got a little bit worried with the number of pitches early It was in the mid-50s through three and I’m like we needed him to be more efficient here,’ and he did Kikuchi is the first pitcher in Astros history to have the club win his first nine starts with the team The Astros are 27-18 since Kikuchi started his first game for the club on Aug with the lefty starting one-third of those victories has held opponents to a .189 batting average and has a WHIP of 0.94 to go along with 68 strikeouts in 54 innings with Houston "We’re 9-0 when he pitches?” Espada said “We expect to win every single time he’s on the mound the only mistake he made was the first hitter of the game and after that Their first big signing came in late May when they inked established pitcher Yusei Kikuchi to a three-year deal worth $63 million Not only did the Halos pry away the lefty from the rival Houston Astros but they brought in a guy who they felt could be the ace of their staff More news: Angels Insider Doesn't Expect Top Prospect to Debut Anytime Soon Kikuchi lasted only two innings in his most recent start this past weekend versus the Minnesota Twins The short-lived outing included four earned runs and a whopping nine hits allowed The loss dropped Kikuchi to 0-4 on the year with a 4.31 ERA Yusei Kikuchi allowed six singles in the first inning against the Twins, the most hits he's allowed in an inning in his career. Twins hitters made contact on 14 of 15 swings against Kikuchi (all 14 are pictured here). pic.twitter.com/cCRB79lo7n Manager Ron Washington spoke harshly about the start after the game The skipper kept things in perspective as it pertained to Kikuchi more is expected out of the outing considering his profile There was a couple balls out of the strike zone Kikuchi has never been a pitcher to blow hitters away with high-octane velocity He operates on the edges with an assortment of off-speed pitches and deception Baseball Savant has analyzed every single pitch thrown this year by Kikuchi The left-hander has utilized six different pitches (4-seam fastball Kikuchi ranks in the 50th percentile in fastball velocity he ranks in the 18th percent in walk percentage and only in the 13th percentage in chase rate If he's walking guys and not getting hitters to bite on his off-speed pitches More news: Suspended Tommy Pham Calls Out MLB, Could Seek Legal Action Against Angels Fan For more Angels news, head over to Angels on SI The Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday announced the signing of Japanese left-hander Yusei Kikuchi to a three-year The 33-year-old went 9-10 in 32 starts this year with a 4.05 ERA playing for the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros logging more than 200 strikeouts for the first time in his six Major League Baseball seasons Kikuchi excelled for the Astros following a trade near the July 30 deadline as he went 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 10 starts helping the team to the American League West title and its eighth straight postseason appearance home to Japanese two-way Shohei Ohtani until last year finished bottom of the division this season going 63-99 and missed out on a postseason spot for the 10th straight campaign Baseball: Hall of Fame awaits frequent visitor Ichiro Suzuki Baseball: Sugano, Kondo snare Japan's MVP honors Baseball: Chen does it all as Taiwan beats Japan, wins Premier12 Is Kikuchi one of the Astros' best in-season acquisitions ever?September 21st This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox Kikuchi is 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA in those nine starts holding opponents to a .189 batting average and 0.94 WHIP with 68 strikeouts in 54 innings with Houston He’s the first pitcher in Astros history to have the club win his nine starts with the team and has one regular-season outing remaining I didn’t know where I was going to get traded but I was a little surprised to learn it was Houston,” Kikuchi said “I have to say thanks to a lot of the people that are in this clubhouse They told me to tweak a few things to be successful.” Here are three other impactful midseason trades Houston made for a starting pitcher: (1998)Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker believed his team with a powerful lineup led by Craig Biggio so he pulled off a blockbuster deal with the Fall Classic -- and the 114-win Yankees -- in mind pile on to give yourself as much reinforcement as you can to get through the playoffs,” Hunsicker said that year the Yankees were arguably the best team in the American League and they had a lot of talented left-handed hitters and adding a dominant left-handed starter like Randy Johnson really would give us a great chance against them if we got to that point." Johnson made 11 starts and went 10–1 with a 1.28 ERA with the Astros The Astrodome was filled every time he started and now I was pitching in the Houston Astrodome,” Johnson said “I was also going and playing for a first-place team So everything just kind of fell into place and it was the best two months of my career.” Johnson had a 1.93 ERA in two starts in the postseason but the Astros were shut down by the Padres and lost in the NLDS (2017)As the city of Houston reeled in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey the Astros stumbled to an 11-17 record in August and needed a pick-me-up the Tigers ace and 2011 winner of the AL Cy Young and MVP The deal was agreed upon right before the midnight ET deadline, with Verlander agreeing to waive his no-trade clause with a little urging from Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel Verlander went 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA in five regular-season starts for the Astros that year and won both of his starts in the ALCS against the Yankees en route to being named MVP of the series this was a pretty emotional decision for me It really felt like family there," Verlander said about leaving Detroit "The opportunity to come play for a championship-caliber team -- for not only this year but for the remainder of my contract -- is ultimately what it really came down to." Verlander went on to win two Cy Young Awards throw his third no-hitter and reach 3,000 career strikeouts in his first stint in Houston (2019)The Astros pulled off four trades on July 31 none bigger than acquiring six-time All-Star and former AL Cy Young winner Greinke Gerrit Cole and Wade Miley atop a loaded rotation that helped Houston win a club-record 107 games “I think he’s a Hall of Famer and I think he’s one of the best pitchers of our generation,” Cole said Greinke was 8-1 with a 3.02 ERA in 10 regular-season starts with the Astros in 2019 and nearly pitched them to a championship He started Game 7 of the 2019 World Series and carried a shutout into the seventh inning before being pulled after 80 pitches following a solo homer by Anthony Rendon and a walk to Juan Soto The Nats took the lead when Howie Kendrick hit a two-run homer off reliever Will Harris the Astros could face a potential problem in 2025 if things went how they did last season It's something to keep an eye on, and while general manager Dana Brown didn't sound worried about it If Houston wants to build a World Series contending team they know better than anyone that it starts on the mound Losing Kikuchi wouldn't be the worst scenario They moved a massive package for him at the deadline so the logical thing to do would be to re-sign him but if it doesn't happen and they replace him Max Fried has been flirted as a potential target for the Astros However, the left-hander was predicted to land a six-year, $174 million deal from Jim Bowden of The Athletic "Max Fried has a career record of 73-36 with a 3.07 ERA and 3.29 FIP won two Gold Glove awards and finished top-five in the Cy Young Award voting twice He’s made 28 to 30 starts in three of the last four seasons but has dealt with injuries including left forearm neuritis each of the last two years his medical reports will determine whether he lands a market-rate deal or has to take a lesser contract The Braves have tried over the last several years to extend Fried to no avail They’ll keep trying this offseason and wait to see how he fares in the market For a pitcher who's dealt with injuries over the past few campaigns paying him nearly $200 million would raise some question marks especially with the other injuries Houston dealt with Kikuchi came in at three years and $42 million from Bowden Fried has been the much better arm throughout his career so that doesn't come as much of a surprise despite the years being significantly different The Astros don't necessarily need an ace so they might be better letting him sign elsewhere JON CONAHAN Jon Conahan has been covering all major sports since 2019. He is a 2022 graduate of the Bellisario School of Journalism at Penn State University and previously played D1 baseball. Just taking a cursory look at Kikuchi's statistics can lead to one simple conclusion: he should have stayed in Houston Yusei Kikuchi had a lights-out second half last season for the Houston Astros after being one of the more curious trade deadline acquisitions, but his decision to go join the Los Angeles Angels looks like it has backfired the Astros' pitching coaches just knew how to get the best out of Kikuchi Kikuchi's adjustments after coming over to the Astros from the Toronto Blue Jays last season were striking Yet this season's statistics (so far) show that Kikuchi, who signed a three-year, $63 million contract with the Angels He's walked eight and struck out 15 in three starts Those numbers are not setting the world on fire for the Angels Yusei Kikuchi's 2Ks in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/nyPbqHiPvB Compare those numbers with what Kikuchi did with the Astros It's obvious from watching Kikuchi struggle early this season that there might be some buyer's remorse for the Angels who chose to enter the free agent market in the offseason is clearly missing something he found with the Astros 8 Ks IN A ROW. Yusei Kikuchi has tied a franchise record. pic.twitter.com/V51X65lV0i He was a solid member of the Astros' rotation in 2024 Kikuchi proved that he could handle American League opponents throwing them off-stride in the batter's box Yet he's looked much more human and hasn't been able to make his adjustments from last season stick with a team that is looking to compete in the American League West Division The Angels are 8-4 right now after Thursday's 11-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. If the Angels want to stay among the division leaders all season long, then they will need Kikuchi to get better soon They cannot afford to have Kikuchi struggling start after start The Angels have been division dwellers for some time Even with oft-injured outfielder Mike Trout on board they need solid starting pitchers from Opening Day to Maybe sticking with the Astros could have been the better call for Kikuchi's career Time will tell and Astros fans may get a front row seat as Kikuchi may very well get a start against his old team when the Angels visit Daikin Park for a three-game weekend series starting Friday night © 2025 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved Yet this season's statistics (so far) show that Kikuchi, who signed a three-year, $63 million contract with the Angels Yusei Kikuchi's 2Ks in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/nyPbqHiPvB Compare those numbers with what Kikuchi did with the Astros 8 Ks IN A ROW. Yusei Kikuchi has tied a franchise record. pic.twitter.com/V51X65lV0i The Angels are 8-4 right now after Thursday's 11-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. If the Angels want to stay among the division leaders all season long, then they will need Kikuchi to get better soon However, the details of the deal aren't as cut-and-dry as one might think Jon Heyman of the New York Post recently reported the details of Kikuchi's deal with a post on social media Kikuchi is set to make $21 million annually from 2025 to 2027 the full details of his contract reveal additional financial components Included in the deal is an extra $675,000 for specific purposes Kikuchi’s trainer will receive a $100,000 salary Kikuchi will be provided with five round-trip business class tickets from Japan to the U.S with a maximum value of $10,000 per ticket  2025-2027$21M - 2025$21M - 2026$21M - 2027Plus: trainer ($100,000); interpreter ($75,000); five RT Business Class tickets from Japan to the US (not to exceed $10,000 per ticket) per year This deal marks the largest contract for a free-agent starting pitcher the Angels have signed since C.J It also stands as the biggest free-agent contract handed out by Angels general manager Perry Minasian during his four-year tenure surpassing the $39 million deal given to left-hander Tyler Anderson posted a 9-10 record with a 4.05 ERA in 32 starts this season for Toronto and Houston The Astros acquired him on July 30 in exchange for 23-year-old right-hander Jake Bloss and minor league first baseman Will Wagner He struck out 76 batters and walked just 14 over 60 innings marking the highest velocity of his career in the majors The terms of the contract says the Angels are anticipating Kikuchi to be more of the second half version of himself from his time with the Astros rather than the first half with the Blue Jays “Strong finish with Houston after the trade,” general manager Perry Minasian said. “We really liked what we saw before that It’s somebody that I think is going to be a welcomed addition and somebody that I’m excited about." Kikuchi is 41-47 with a 4.57 ERA over parts of six major league seasons with Seattle (2019-21) MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS — After signing a three-year $63 million contract with the Angels at the beginning of the offseason the club announced Yusei Kikuchi will be the Opening Day starter “It's obvious,” manager Ron Washington said We didn't bring him here to be four or five We didn't bring him here to be three or two Kikuchi has been operating on a different schedule compared to the rest of the Angels starting pitchers this spring partly to prepare for the Opening Day nod and also because of his personal preference Washington said that Kikuchi will not be a part of the first five starters to open Cactus League games but will join the next rotation of five starters Kikuchi was the first Angels pitcher to throw two innings of live batting practice we’ve had a plan about just going at my pace and taking things slow just because if I throw too much and I ramp up too quickly it’s not good for my shoulder or elbow,” Kikuchi said “Instead of throwing every four or five days I feel like going every six days will be better for my build-up I've kind of been told to plan to throw opening day I was able to create my practice plan and routine from there and can't wait to get going.” Kikuchi becomes the eighth different Angels Opening Day starter in the last 10 years He joins Trevor Cahill as the only other pitcher to get the nod in his first season with the Angels in that same span “I'm hoping that we can just get off to a good start starting from game one.” Kikuchi was the Houston Astros’ best starting pitcher once he got traded there from the Toronto Blue Jays at last year’s trade deadline posting a 2.70 ERA in his 10 starts with the Astros His ERA on the season as a whole was 4.05 in 32 starts.  The success Kikuchi saw as an Astro was largely because he used his breaking pitches more and his fastball less As much of an honor as it is for Kikuchi to be named the Opening Day starter “I was just told that I was going to start today  “I’m not feeling that kind of pressure right now but it is just one game at the end of the day What’s most important is the starts over a 30 to 32-start season and being able to stay healthy and put up the numbers.” Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) hits a leadoff home run against the Los Angeles Angels during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale crushing a 94-mph fastball from left-hander Yusei Kikuchi in his first at-bat this spring against his former team is coming back from left shoulder surgery this offseason and showed no difficulty swinging the bat as he hit a home run over the left field wall This isn’t the first time Kikuchi and Ohtani have faced each other; they share a unique connection having both attended Hanamaki Higashi High School in Iwate Prefecture OK SHOHEI! 💣He goes oppo on his first at-bat. #DodgersST pic.twitter.com/boSc77tkrz The lights shone brightly as every fan at Camelback Ranch held up their cell phones capturing the moment between Kikuchi and Ohtani This game was being broadcast live in Japan fueling excitement for Ohtani’s return to the field both players were aware that all of Japan was watching who had coached them during their time at Hanamaki Higashi High School I think the biggest takeaway was being able to go through my three at-bats without any issues," Ohtani said Ohtani has made some minor adjustments to his swing this season and talks about finding the ability to work on it during spring training games.  "It's a constant feedback between how I feel and how the swing actually looks," Ohtani said Los Angeles Angels pitcher Yusei Kikuchi (16) against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale Kikuchi was three years ahead of Ohtani while they attended the same school so Ohtani certainly knew who Kikuchi was as he began his own baseball career and they faced each other in many matchups while Ohtani played for the Los Angeles Angels and Kikuchi pitched for the Seattle Mariners Ohtani was asked how he can hit a home run off his friend who attended the same high school He will take the day off on Saturday but is expected to return to the lineup on Sunday Freddie Freeman is also anticipated to be back in the lineup after making his spring debut on Thursday as the DH Freeman is expected to DH on Saturday after not playing on Friday With two weeks remaining in spring training before heading to Japan to open the season against the Chicago Cubs Ohtani expressed that he would like to have 50 at-bats prior to opening day Will Smith made his spring debut as a catcher for the Dodgers with Dustin May on the mound Smith went 0-for-3 at the plate and struck out twice as he continues to recover from his ankle injury May started strong with a scoreless first inning but ran into trouble in the second Angels’ Jo Adell crushed a grand slam off May which was the only hit given up by May in the game.  The future looks promising for the Dodgers as Dalton Rushing stepped up to fill in at DH in place of Ohtani Rushing went 2-for-2 at the plate and ended the game with a walk-off double that sailed down the third baseline This clutch hit secured a hard-fought 6-5 victory for the Dodgers showcasing Rushing's potential to excel in high-pressure situations Dave Roberts mentioned that he expects Rushing to make the jump to the big leagues sometime this season Today's print edition Home Delivery who has sued a Catholic congregation in Nagasaki over allegedly being raped by its priest criticized the Archbishop of Tokyo Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi for ignoring her repeated pleas to take stricter measures against the priest who is one of the 130 cardinals expected to join the conclave to elect a new pope after Pope Francis died last month.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); Akita blamed Kikuchi for failing to take appropriate action when Tanaka told the congregation about the alleged sex abuse from the priest In a time of both misinformation and too much information quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division The San Diego Padres have searched left and right for starting pitching The answer to their woes may be just north of the border The San Diego Padres had a rather tumultuous first half Their roster has been in constant flux due to a glut of injuries, and their rotation is one such area. Joe Musgrove is out until at least August, Yu Darvish is out indefinitely on the restricted list and some of the internal reinforcements the Padres have turned to are struggling Adam Mazur was unable to find a groove at the major league level in seven starts, and the organization’s higher-tier pitching prospects have yet to reach Triple-A. While Randy Vasquez has found his stride and Matt Waldron emerged as a solid middle-of-the-rotation presence the Padres still enter the second half in search of pitching reinforcements The Padres’ rotation ranks 14th in ERA in July and 11th in FIP but their starters’ bottom ten ranking in innings isn’t the most promising sign when paired with the bullpen’s 5.92 ERA in July If the Padres want to prevent a bullpen implosion akin to that in 2021 another starting pitcher entering the major league roster would undoubtedly be on A.J Enter Yusei Kikuchi The Blue Jays appear intent on selling at the trade deadline this month, and multiple prominent reporters (including Buster Olney and Ken Rosenthal) have confirmed that the team intends to retool at the deadline The team has a solid batch of upcoming free agents and the most prominent of these is the 33-year-old Kikuchi The Japanese left-hander has had a very up-and-down Major League career entering the league with the 2019 Mariners and posting a 4.97 ERA and 4.93 FIP in three seasons in the Emerald City the Blue Jays were intrigued by his 2021 first-half (3.18 ERA The contract hasn’t been the greatest for Toronto but it hasn’t been an albatross either as the left-hander has posted his best FIP (3.68) and HR/9 (1.4) in his tenure north of the border this season in 20 starts Kikuchi had a strong start to the season but has been plagued by the home run ball over his last six starts posting a 7.53 ERA and 2.83 HR/9 in that span When it comes to the intangibles of his game Kikuchi’s four-pitch arsenal leans heavily on a fastball that averages 95.6 mph with an average of 13 inches of drop while his main secondary has been his curveball This change has affected the efficacy of his slider which graded out at +8 run value last season but is down to +1 Kikuchi seems like a prime candidate for the Padres’ pitching lab a player who can rediscover his best stuff under pitching coach Ruben Niebla a left-handed starting pitcher could be helpful to the Padres as they chase down a Wild Card spot potentially neutralizing the left-handed-leaning lineups of teams like Arizona a #PadJays connection at the deadline is certainly a realistic possibility The Padres know they need another starting pitcher Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024 He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball” Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community The Los Angeles Angels are continuing their pre-holiday shopping spree agreeing to terms with free-agent pitcher Yusei Kikuchi on a three-year contract The 33-year old left-hander agreed to a $63 million contract according to a baseball official with direct knowledge of the deal The official spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the deal has not been finalized Kikuchi finished last season in dominant fashion after being traded to the Houston Astros He spent eight seasons in Japan before signing with the Seattle Mariners in 2019 he joined the Toronto Blue Jays for 2 1/2 seasons and was dealt to Houston in late July Kikuchi started relying on his slider more than ever Kikuchi went 5-1 down the stretch with a 2.70 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 60 innings FREE AGENT RANKINGS: The 120 most impactful players available this offseason Over 166 games (154 starts) in his six-year MLB career Kikuchi has an overall record of 41-47 with a 4.57 ERA He becomes the fourth free agent Angels general manager Perry Minasian has signed so far this offseason, joining pitcher Kyle Hendricks, catcher Travis d'Arnaud and infielder Kevin Newman Kikuchi could potentially be the Angels' opening-day starter fronting a rotation that includes righties Hendricks and Jose Soriano and southpaws Reid Detmers and Tyler Anderson Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata voiced hope that Yusei Kikuchi will pitch for Japan at the World Baseball Classic in March next year after holding talks with the Los Angeles Angels lefty on Monday "He was almost unstoppable toward the end of last year (playing for the Houston Astros)," Ibata said in Tempe where the Angels are holding spring training "It'll be great if he can pitch for Japan." who has never pitched at the WBC or the Olympic Games "I first want to finish the season free of injury and will think about it positively if I'm in good health," he said Ibata also visited pitchers Yu Darvish and Yuki Matsui who both helped Japan win the 2023 edition of the tournament Baseball: Shohei Ohtani throws "great" 1st bullpen of spring training Baseball: Padres' Yu Darvish eager to resume rivalry with Dodgers Basketball: Role player Rui Hachimura remains ready to step up for Lakers This means that the M's will now see Kikuchi multiple times per season over the next few years He's one of several moves that the Angels have made this offseason to try and get back into contention Though Kikuchi signed earlier this offseason he evidently saved his big celebration for just recently A picture of a drunken Kikuchi went viral on social media as he was sleeping on the floor after a long night Kikuchi and his family had been with fellow Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish and Darvish posted the following on "X:" (Please note the post below has been translated from Japanese to English through the translate button on "X:") I had dinner with the Kikuchi couple while they were on vacation at the end of last year.We had a lively and fun time together with both families in the house we rented Kikuchi drank most of the Hibiki that he brought with him He couldn't find an Uber to take us home so he ended up staying the night ※ Permission was granted to take this photo 昨年末に菊池夫妻と旅行先で一緒に食事をしました。自分達が借りていた家で両家揃って賑やかで楽しい時間を過ごせました😊菊池くんが持参してくれた響は菊池くんがほとんど飲んで、最終的には酔い潰れて、帰りのウーバーも見つからないためお泊まりして行ってくれました🙇‍♂️… pic.twitter.com/gzemGj5uR7 that's certainly one way to celebrate around the New Year Kikuchi is 41-47 lifetime with a 4.57 ERA. He's spent six years in the big leagues with the Mariners He made the All-Star team for the M's in the 2021 season before leaving in free agency He struck out 76 batters in 60.0 Houston innings BRADY FARKAS The Church is one family across the world and we need to support one another.. In a wide-ranging interview with Vatican Media Japan, who serves as President of Caritas Internationalis announced Archbishop Kikuchi would be among those created Cardinal in the upcoming 8 December 2024 Consistory the President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan speaks about his reaction to his nomination how he will advise the Holy Father as Cardinal as well as his own vocation and spirituality Cardinal-elect Kikuchi shares what he believes are the most important issues for the Church today and how to best react in a world afflicted by war Now that the news has sunken in that Pope Francis has named you Cardinal how do you look forward to counseling the Holy Father And how do you look forward to counsel him in particular about the Church in Asia as President of Caritas Internationalis [the Vatican's humanitarian arm] I report to the Holy Father what is going on in Caritas I met the Holy Father a number of times already So I always bring somebody from Caritas to translate for me But I have been giving him information already We have the Synod and so many other events but he's declared this a Year of Prayer ahead of the upcoming Jubilee Could you tell us something about your own spirituality and even how you discovered your own vocation but I was raised by the Swiss missionaries I was born as the son of a catechist in the northern part of Japan He told me how to pray and he told me how to be an altar boy Because of his connection to the German-speaking people the Divine Word Missionaries working in neighboring prefecture I was brought to the minor seminary of the Divine Word Missionaries in Japan and raised as a missionary is really based on this encounter with the foreign missionary Speaking of your missionary experience in Africa I believe you spent almost a decade in Ghana Is there something that taught you about the Church I was ordained a priest and immediately I went to Ghana Then I was sent to a mission station where there is no electricity even though there are so many difficulties But I was wondering why the people are so happy there They said that happiness is because they know that when there is a difficulty since I began working for Caritas for many years that is my principal concept of supporting others: I don't forget you “I was sent to a mission station where there is no electricity What do you consider the importance of the Church in Asia I have been talking about that the shift of the center of the Church from Western Churches to the so-called Global South Churches Because the Church in Asia is now producing so many vocations The Churches are growing and spirituality is deepening it is our duty now to contribute to the universal Church Now this is Asia's time to contribute to the mission of the Church and the Holy Father made an appeal for a day of prayer and fasting what tools should be used to work toward peace it is very difficult to talk about peace or the stability in other countries far away the Middle East or the Holy Land are far away it is very difficult for the people to understand that is really our problem but it's our problem because we are living as one same family on the same planet I think the Church has to continue to talk to the people about the fact that we are living as one family is there a certain issue or are there certain issues that you believe are most important to focus on in the Catholic Church today the society is aging and we don't have many kids But of course there is a tendency that they don't want to integrate these migrants to the society There is always a kind of harsh opinion against the migrants the question is raised on how to deal with or how to integrate these migrants into society It is a main issue for the Catholic Church the integration of these migrants into society is the main issue which we have to really tackle Is there anything else you would like to add Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here The late-night/early-morning spot for Cubs fans asks you about free agent left-hander Yusei Kikuchi Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the grooviest gathering of night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad Let us know if we can do anything to make your stay more enjoyable BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball or anything else you need to get off your chest as long as it is within the rules of the site The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon Last night, I asked you where you thought Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki would sign. I really admire your optimism around here, because 37 percent of you think he’ll be a Cub. That’s a lot more optimistic than I am. Another 31 percent thought he’d sign with the Dodgers which is the general assumption of where he’s going to sign whom I think are the second favorites after the Dodgers so those of you who skip that can do so now Drummer Roy Haynes died earlier today at the age of 99 Haynes has been around so long that he played with Charlie Parker and he saw jazz go from bebop to cool to post-bob to fusion and beyond Haynes was better known as a sideman than as a bandleader in his own right which meant that he didn’t get as much fame as contemporaries like Max Roach and Art Blakey But Haynes was always more about the music than the attention he’s 88 years old in this video and he’s still playing this energetically Martin Bejerano is on piano and David Wong is on bass (I originally typed “on base.” We must be in extra innings.) Welcome back to those of you who skip all that jazz Jeff Passan posted this article previewing the Hot Stove (ESPN+ sub req.) and while there is a lot of good stuff in there I think some people online have been reading too much into some off-hand comments Passan threw in there But he did make a comment that connected the Cubs to Yusei Kikuchi the 33-year-old left-hander who turned his career around after a trade deadline deal to Houston this past season I don’t want to read too much into Passan’s comment He just listed the Cubs as a team that “could” be interested in Kikuchi He’s not reporting on any inside information he may have gotten have been awfully tight-lipped about who their offseason targets are They were barely connected to Shōta Imanaga last year before the announcement of his signing and the Craig Counsell hiring came out of the blue His career after being posted by the Seibu Lions had been disappointing up until this past season He was one of the best pitchers in Nippon Professional Baseball up until he came over to MLB in 2019 He signed with the Mariners and was distinctly mediocre despite getting a All-Star nod in 2021 because of a strong first-half that was followed by a poor second-half Seattle let him leave as a free agent after three seasons without much of a fight He signed a three-year deal with the Blue Jays and was slightly better there than he was in Seattle He struggled in 2022 with Toronto before having the best season of his MLB career in 2023 But he was back to his old ways in 2024 when he went 4-9 with a 4.75 ERA over 22 starts in Toronto The Blue Jays traded him to Houston at the deadline this past season But the Astros seemed to see something in Kikuchi that Seattle and Toronto didn’t but hitters could key on it because his secondary pitches weren’t as good But the Astros told Kikuchi to stop throwing his curve and instead told him to throw his slider instead He now throws his slider almost as much as his fastball Kikuchi’s strikeouts went up and the fly ball rate went down Kikuchi was dominating down the stretch in Houston making ten starts and going 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA Kikuchi had a career-high strikeout percentage of 31.8 percent in Houston So if a team gets the pitcher Kikuchi was in Houston very good number two or number three pitcher If Houston actually figured out how to maximize his arsenal then Kikuchi very likely has become the pitcher that the Mariners thought they were getting in 2019 if that was just a small-sample size and that the league is going to figure out his new repertoire eventually then Kikuchi becomes an expensive number-four starter whose on the wrong side of thirty So should the Cubs try to sign Yusei Kikuchi there’s a lot of potential upside there for someone who likely won’t cost that much Fangraphs estimated that he’s probably sign for around three years and $51 million I think that’s a little low on the dollar amount Three years and $56 million would probably do it The other issue with Kikuchi is that he’s left-handed so if you’re worried that the Cubs rotation might become too left-handed with Justin Steele and Imanaga then maybe you think the team should go in a different direction quality pitching is quality pitching no matter what hand they throw with and Kikuchi did not have much of a platoon differential last season Another reason to sign Kikuchi is that he has a really cute son I’m at the champions for healthy families fashion show featuring the Astros’ wives— and safe to say the Kikuchi family stole the show on this one pic.twitter.com/ysxuurYgnB And join us again tomorrow for more BCB After Dark and more from the Phillies and MLB delivered right to your inbox