Yusei Kikuchi
32-Year-Old
2024 Stats
W-L
1-1
ERA
2.08
WHIP
1.15
K
29
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Kikuchi enjoyed a career year in 2023 and finished with a 3.86 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and 181:48 K:BB over 167.2 innings. He nearly cut his walk rate in half to 6.9 percent and had a solid 25.9 percent strikeout rate. A 3.77 xFIP also indicates his results were mostly earned, though a 42.4 percent hard-hit rate and 1.45 HR/9 were both bottom-10 among qualified starters despite being significant improvements from his 2022 marks. The left-hander, who will turn 33 years old in June, continues to average about 95 mph with his fastball and still generates plenty of whiffs, but those swing-and-misses have never really translated to equitable run prevention. Kikuchi's 2023 numbers certainly weren't a fluke, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be able to replicate them. A regression in 2024 shouldn't be the expectation but certainly wouldn't be surprising given the 5.02 ERA across his first four MLB seasons after coming over from Japan. Read Past Outlooks
Sharp in Tuesday's win
Kikuchi (1-1) picked up the win Tuesday in a 5-4 victory over the Yankees, allowing one run on four hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out nine.
ANALYSIS
The left-hander struck out Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge in the top of the first inning, setting the tone for a dominant performance. Kikuchi fired 62 of 94 strikes as he recorded his second straight quality start, and he fanned nine in each of those outings. He'll take a 2.08 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 29:8 K:BB through 21.2 innings into his next start, which lines up to come early next week in Kansas City.
The left-hander struck out Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge in the top of the first inning, setting the tone for a dominant performance. Kikuchi fired 62 of 94 strikes as he recorded his second straight quality start, and he fanned nine in each of those outings. He'll take a 2.08 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 29:8 K:BB through 21.2 innings into his next start, which lines up to come early next week in Kansas City.
Pitching Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
92
Last 10 Games
92
Last 5 Games
92
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 2022
-22%
BAA vs LHP
2024
-26%
BAA vs LHP
BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022vs Left | .204 | 68 | 17 | 48 | 8 | |||
Since 2022vs Right | .260 | 266 | 97 | 227 | 43 | |||
2024vs Left | .167 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
2024vs Right | .226 | 25 | 8 | 14 | 1 | |||
2023vs Left | .214 | 39 | 8 | 28 | 6 | |||
2023vs Right | .266 | 142 | 40 | 137 | 21 | |||
2022vs Left | .198 | 25 | 9 | 17 | 2 | |||
2022vs Right | .256 | 99 | 49 | 76 | 21 | |||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-9%
ERA at Home
2024
-46%
ERA at Home
ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022Home | 4.00 | 1.15 | 146.1 | 10.9 | 3.3 | ||||
Since 2022Away | 4.39 | 1.54 | 143.2 | 9.8 | 3.8 | ||||
2024Home | 1.50 | 0.83 | 12.0 | 13.5 | 2.3 | ||||
2024Away | 2.79 | 1.55 | 9.2 | 10.2 | 4.7 | ||||
2023Home | 3.97 | 1.18 | 79.1 | 9.9 | 3.1 | ||||
2023Away | 3.77 | 1.35 | 88.1 | 9.6 | 2.1 | ||||
2022Home | 4.58 | 1.16 | 55.0 | 11.8 | 3.8 | ||||
2022Away | 5.91 | 1.91 | 45.2 | 10.2 | 6.9 | ||||
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
3.63K/9
12.0BB/9
3.3HR/9
0.4Fastball
95.6 mphERA
2.08WHIP
1.15BABIP
.333GB/FB
2.25Left On Base
84.7%Swinging Strike
11.9%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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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Improbable resurgence?
Kikuchi posted a 1.00 ERA across 18 Grapefruit League innings this spring, a far cry from his 5.18 ERA last season, as well as his cumulative 5.02 ERA across four MLB seasons.
ANALYSIS
Kikuchi's underlying issues have still been present in spring training, as he walked10 hitters to go along with his 25 strikeouts. His 12.8 percent walk rate ranked in the bottom-three percent of all pitchers last season. Overall, 2022 was an ugly campaign for the 31-year-old, so it's best to remain skeptical of the resurgence until he corroborates he's capable of duplicating it during the regular season.
Kikuchi's underlying issues have still been present in spring training, as he walked10 hitters to go along with his 25 strikeouts. His 12.8 percent walk rate ranked in the bottom-three percent of all pitchers last season. Overall, 2022 was an ugly campaign for the 31-year-old, so it's best to remain skeptical of the resurgence until he corroborates he's capable of duplicating it during the regular season.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2016
Kikuchi is at a career crossroads as his non COVID-shortened seasons look terrible by most measures. His ERA and ERA estimators have been messy in each of those seasons, and then he further compounded problems in 2022 with a noticeable spike in his walk rate with a healthy dose of homers. Just six pitchers have ever thrown at least 100 innings with walk rates of at least 12% while allowing 2 homers per nine innings as Kikuchi did and those names include Oliver Perez, Andy Benes, and Derek Holland and each of their ERAs were over a full run higher than what Kikuchi somehow pulled off last season at 5.19. The strikeout rate was am impressive as he ran away from his cutter and threw more fastballs, but only his changeup was tough to hit for the league. It is perplexing to see someone with such poor overall numbers to have four pitches with Whiff rates above 25%, but that is what Kikuchi pulled off last season. Perhaps there is a brighter future for him in relief where he can pump up the velocity in shorter stints because he has had issues sustaining that over the course of a season. Funny data point: did you know Kikuchi's four-seam fastball generated more swings and misses in 2022 than four-seamers thrown by Justin Verlander and Alek Manoah? Now you do.
More Fantasy News
Strikes out nine Wednesday
Kikuchi didn't factor into the decision Wednesday against the Mariners, allowing one run on three hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out nine.
ANALYSIS
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Impresses against Yankees
Kikuchi didn't factor into the decision Friday versus the Yankees, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out seven in 5.1 scoreless innings.
ANALYSIS
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Allows three runs in loss
Kikuchi (0-1) took the loss to the Rays on Saturday, allowing three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four over 4.1 innings.
ANALYSIS
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Roughed up Sunday
Kikuchi gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks over 2.1 innings in a split-squad game against the Orioles on Sunday. He struck out five.
ANALYSIS
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Sharp beginning to spring
Kikuchi gave up one hit and struck out three batters over two scoreless innings in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Pirates.
ANALYSIS
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