2022 Stats
W-L
1-1
ERA
4.15
WHIP
1.42
K
27
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2022 Fantasy Outlook
Kikuchi appeared set to deliver the breakout campaign that many projected prior to the 2021 season, maintaining a 3.46 ERA with an 81:26 K:BB across his first 80.2 innings and 13 starts. However, he crumbled from there, posting a 5.42 ERA across his last 16 outings. Perhaps coincidentally, his problems began with the crackdown on the use of foreign substances. When viewing Kikuchi's profile as a whole, home runs remain a significant problem (1.6 HR/9) and his walk rate also remains higher than would be desirable (9.3 BB%). However, by far the biggest problem for Kikuchi is the amount of hard contact he surrenders, highlighted by an 11% barrel rate, 47% hard hit rate, and 91.9 mph average exit velocity. Kikuchi agreed to a three-year, $36 million deal with the Blue Jays and will be pitching in the AL East for the foreseeable future. Read Past Outlooks

Fans seven in no-decision
Kikuchi didn't factor into the decision in Tuesday's 6-5 loss to the Yankees, allowing two runs on two hits and three walks over 5.1 innings. He struck out seven.
ANALYSIS
The southpaw was headed for his second win of the season until Aaron Judge walked it off with a three-run blast off Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano in the bottom of the ninth inning. Kikuchi appears to have turned a corner, posting a 14:4 K:BB in 11.1 innings over his last two starts with a 2.38 ERA and 0.79 WHIP, but Seattle fans can attest to the rollercoaster ride that the Kikuchi experience can be over a full season.
The southpaw was headed for his second win of the season until Aaron Judge walked it off with a three-run blast off Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano in the bottom of the ninth inning. Kikuchi appears to have turned a corner, posting a 14:4 K:BB in 11.1 innings over his last two starts with a 2.38 ERA and 0.79 WHIP, but Seattle fans can attest to the rollercoaster ride that the Kikuchi experience can be over a full season.
Pitching Stats
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2022
2021
2020
2019
2022 MLB Game Log
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Minor League Game Log

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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
81
Last 10 Games
81
Last 5 Games
80
How many pitches does Yusei Kikuchi generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Yusei Kikuchi generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2020
-29%
BAA vs LHP
2022
-4%
BAA vs RHP
BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2020vs Left | .183 | 56 | 16 | 37 | 7 | |||
Since 2020vs Right | .256 | 180 | 81 | 168 | 27 | |||
2022vs Left | .217 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | |||
2022vs Right | .208 | 22 | 16 | 15 | 2 | |||
2021vs Left | .147 | 40 | 10 | 20 | 5 | |||
2021vs Right | .271 | 123 | 52 | 125 | 22 | |||
2020vs Left | .279 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 0 | |||
2020vs Right | .228 | 35 | 13 | 28 | 3 | |||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2020
-2%
ERA at Home
2022
-30%
ERA on Road
ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2020Home | 4.50 | 1.21 | 112.0 | 9.7 | 3.5 | ||||
Since 2020Away | 4.58 | 1.43 | 118.0 | 8.8 | 4.3 | ||||
2022Home | 5.19 | 1.27 | 8.2 | 11.4 | 4.2 | ||||
2022Away | 3.63 | 1.50 | 17.1 | 8.3 | 6.8 | ||||
2021Home | 4.21 | 1.22 | 77.0 | 9.7 | 3.2 | ||||
2021Away | 4.61 | 1.41 | 80.0 | 9.0 | 3.9 | ||||
2020Home | 5.13 | 1.18 | 26.1 | 9.2 | 4.1 | ||||
2020Away | 5.23 | 1.45 | 20.2 | 8.7 | 3.5 | ||||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Stat Review
How does Yusei Kikuchi compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
1.59K/9
9.3BB/9
5.9HR/9
1.4Fastball
95.0 mphERA
4.15WHIP
1.42BABIP
.257GB/FB
2.00Left On Base
70.1%Exit Velocity
84.1 mphBarrels/BBE
7.5%Spin Rate
2258 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
26.3%Swinging Strike
11.7%Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Yusei Kikuchi

Todd Zola ranks the week's starting pitching as warming weather is contributing to more scoring. Sugar Shane McClanahan only has one start, but still tops the AL rankings.

Wins have been hard to come by this season. Jason Collette examines early run-support numbers and notes pitchers that have enjoyed good fortune in that regard, and those that have not, like Corbin Burnes.

Chris Bennett looks over Tuesday's slate and thinks Wander Franco should deliver another big performance.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2021
2020
2019
2016
On the surface, Kikuchi has had some rough sledding in his transition from pitching in Japan to pitching in the majors. Two consecutive season of bad ratios and a lack of wins while pitching for a perpetually rebuilding Seattle franchise. If you solely focus on the surface stats, you will miss the progress he is making as a pitcher. The southpaw added a new cutter in 2020 and made it his primary pitch, but like with anything new, it took some time getting used to. Kikuchi struggled with walks, but still struck out nearly a quarter of the hitters he faced and his expected stats do not look like they belong to a guy coming off a 5.17 ERA and 1.30 WHIP season. The cutter helped him greatly against righties as their weighted on-base average against him dropped 75 points year over year. Seattle is not a great team, but Kikuchi is a good pitcher whose surface stats create a strong buying opportunity in 2021.
More Fantasy News

Snags first win of 2022
Kikuchi picked up the win Wednesday against the Yankees, tossing six innings and surrendering one run on three hits and a walk while striking out seven against the Yankees.
ANALYSIS
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Tweaks arsenal but struggles again
Kikuchi scrapped his cutter in Friday's start against the Astros, Mitch Bannon of SI.com reports. He gave up four runs on four hits and three walks while striking out four in 2.2 innings.
ANALYSIS
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Walks five in no-decision
Kikuchi allowed four runs (two earned) on three hits and five walks over 3.2 innings in Sunday's loss to Houston. He struck out four and did not factor in the decision.
ANALYSIS
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Solid against Red Sox
Kikuchi tossed five innings of one-run ball, surrendering three hits while walking three batters and striking out three in Tuesday's loss to the Red Sox. He did not factor into the decision.
ANALYSIS
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Inefficient in Tuesday's loss
Kikuchi (0-1) took the loss Tuesday, giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks over 3.1 innings as the Blue Jays were downed 4-0 by the Yankees. He struck out two.
ANALYSIS
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