The Toronto Blue Jays have signed starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi of Morioka, Japan top a three-year contract worth $36 million according to Scott Mitchell of TSN on Saturday. Kikuchi will join a Blue Jays rotation that includes Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Alek Manoah and Hyun Jin Ryu.
Kikuchi, who pitched last year for the Seattle Mariners, is one of two starting pitchers the Blue Jays signed in the offseason. The other was Gausman, who pitched last year for the San Francisco Giants. The Blue Jays needed to alter their starting rotation after losing Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray in free agency to the Mariners.
There is some concern among critics that the Blue Jays might have overpaid for a fifth starter, especially when you consider the fact Kikuchi had an earned run average of 4.41. However, one must realize that in 2021, Kikuchi did have a career high with 163 strikeouts and represented the Mariners at the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
Last season Kikuchi had a record of seven wins and nine losses. In 157 innings pitched, he gave up 145 hits, 77 earned runs and 62 walks. Kikuchi also had a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.32.
This will be Kikuchi’s fourth Major League season. In his rookie year with Seattle, he threw a two-hitter for the Mariners in a 7-0 complete game shutout win over the Blue Jays on August 18, 2019.
