One of the biggest stories for the Toronto Blue Jays to begin the 2023 Major League Baseball regular season has been the pitching of Yusei Kikuchi of Morioka, Japan. Initially to begin the year, Kikuchi was slated as the number five starter in the Blue Jays rotation. After five starts, he is pitching so well, you could make the argument that he has been as good, even better than everyone else in the rotation, except for possibly Kevin Gausman of Centennial, Colorado.
2023 MLB Statistics
In 2023, Kikuchi has a perfect record of four wins and zero losses. In 27 innings pitched, he has given up 24 hits, nine earned runs, and six walks, to go along with 28 strikeouts, an earned run average of 3.00, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.11.
Two Quality Starts
Kikuchi only gave up one earned run in six innings of work on April 15 in a 5-2 Blue Jays win over the Tampa Bay Rays. He then gave up only one earned run again in six innings on April 21 in a 6-1 Blue Jays win over the New York Yankees. In 12 innings, Kikuchi gave up eight hits and three walks, to go along with a dozen strikeouts.
Two other Wins
Also in 2023, Kikuchi only gave up one earned run in five innings in a 4-1 Blue Jays win over the Kansas City Royals on April 4, and then gave up zero earned runs in 5 2/3 innings in an 8-0 Blue Jays win over the Chicago White Sox on April 26. Kikuchi’s only poor performance came on April 9 when he gave up six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings. But the Blue Jays still won that game 12-11 over the Los Angeles Angels.
Struggles in 2022
In 2022, Kikuchi struggled mightily for the Blue Jays and was endangered of losing his spot in the rotation in 2023. He had a record of six wins and seven losses with an earned run average of 5.19 and a poor WHIP of 1.50.
Third in the American League East
Toronto is at 16 wins and nine losses. They are four and a half games back of the division leading Tampa Bay Rays an half a game back of the Baltimore Orioles.
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