Yusei Kikuchi, the 28-year-old Japanese pitcher heralded as one of the Mariners’ best future-oriented signings of the most recent offseason, has largely struggled in his first year with Seattle. As it stands now, 25 starts into his MLB career, the deceptive lefty seems to have forgotten his deception in Japan. Following Tuesday’s outing in Detroit, Kikuchi owns a 5.56 ERA, 5.99 FIP, 1.52 WHIP, and averages three walks per nine innings compared to 6.77 strikeouts. All of that computes to -0.1 fWAR, which is fairly common for rookies, but more troubling considering the pedigree Kikuchi arrived with.
How Yusei Kikuchi’s rookie season compares to other Japanese pitchers’
