Credit where credit is due - the Yusei Kikuchi Story
After signing a $36M, three-year deal with the Jays in March of 2022, Yusei Kikuchi would go on to experience his share of ups and downs while donning the powder blue.
His time in Toronto followed a three-year stint with the Seattle Mariners, where he also struggled with consistency, and was widely considered a disappointment following 9 stellar seasons with the NPB's Seibu Lions.
Although there may have been flashes of brilliance including an all-star appearance in 2021, his 4.98 ERA over 70 starts slotted Kikuchi in the reclamation project pile of free agent arms following final season with the M's.
The Blue jays would take a chance though, inking the Japanese lefty to fill-out the back end of their rotation. Year One historically went true-to-form with his time in Seattle when he would finish with 6 wins against 7 losses and again an ERA north of 5 culminating in a demotion to long-relief in the bullpen to finish out the year.
Somewhere along the way, the Jays recognized that something was simply not working in his versatile pitch mix and suggested that the struggling hurler remove the cutter from his arsenal, while increasing his filthy fastball and introducing a hard-biting slider that resembled his cutter on steroids (something he learned from another successful Jays re-build project, Robbie Ray). He would also continue to mix in his split-fingered change-up on occasion to keep hitters off-balance.
Yusei Kikuchi was re-born. 2023 would prove to be his best season in bigs thus far as he won 11 and lost 6, while reducing his ERA to 3.86, striking out 181 batters in just over 167 innings.
2024 started with some control struggles, but there was still some considerable value carrying into the trade deadline when he would be moved to the Houston Astros to help with their push to get into the playoffs. In return, Toronto would net 3 intriguing, talented young pieces in Joey Loperfido, Will Wagner and stand-out minor league starter Jake Bloss, helping to replenish some prospect capital in their pipeline. Meanwhile Kikuchi would masterfully lead a depleted starting staff in Houston with a 5-1 record and a 2.70 ERA over 10 starts down the stretch helping them secure the AL West crown.
Last night, Kikuchi, 33, parlayed that performance into a new, 3-year, $63M deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, where he will ply his trade for the foreseeable future.
Ultimately, you can look back at his time with the Blue Jays and being integral to his development and evolution, and in return, he provided Toronto with the means to score some young talent that will have the opportunity to contribute to the roster for years to come.
There may not be many great stories to come out of this front office, but I can certainly give credit where credit is due.
