What is Going Wrong For Yusei Kikuchi and How He Can Fix It

Projected to be a leader of the rotation, Yusei Kikuchi is off to a horrible start in 2026 but there are reasons to think he can recover.

Apr 13, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; Los Angeles Angels pitcher Yusei Kikuchi (16) pitches against the New York Yankees during the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

Projected to be a leader of the rotation, Yusei Kikuchi is off to a horrible start in 2026 but there are reasons to think he can recover. Last night's outing in New York was a snapshot of all that is wrong right now. Walks, home runs, and an early night led to another loss suffered by the Angels who really need Kikuchi to pitch well.

Let's take a look at what is wrong and how he can fix it.

Kikuchi lacks command and consistency.

Last night Kikuchi walked 4 batters in 3.1 innings. In his first start he also walked 4 but went 5.1 innings. That is nearly 1 walk per inning, which is simply not going to work at the MLB level.

Sandwiched between those two starts, Kikuchi went 5 innings against the Braves and only walked 1 batter while striking out 8. That strikeout total matches the that of the his other two starts combined.

Issuing free passes is a good way to give up runs. But there is more to it. Consistently falling behind hitters is a good way to get hit hard and that is what is happening.

Hitters are crushing the ball against Kikuchi.

Apr 1, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Los Angeles Angels pitcher Yusei Kikuchi (16) reacts after the Chicago Cubs scored during the third inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

By every metric, Kikuchi is getting crushed when hitters make contact. This is due to falling behind in the count and needing to groove a strike. It also appears that hitters can eliminate a pitch or two from his mix, giving them an extra ability to tee off.

Yusei ranks in or near the bottom third in baseball in hard hit rate, barrel percentage, and average exit velocity. He ranks in or near the bottom third in ground ball percentage, chase rate

The good news: this seems correctable to a degree.

To what degree is uncertain. Kikuchi did have a rough stretch to end 2025, but nothing this bad.

In previous seasons Kikuchi relied on his fastball to set up his slider and other secondary offerings. His fastball still has decent zip and is averaging 95 MPH. But for some reason he is throwing it less often than usual.

Last year Kikuchi threw his 4 seamer and slider each about 35% of the time. However, this year he is down to 25% for both the heater and slider. He's dramatically increased the use of his change up from 12% to 22% and introduced a new cutter that he is using about 19% of the time.

Hitters are lighting up the cutter to the tune of a .500 batting average and .700 slugging percentage. Kikuchi's go to pitch, the slider, is also getting hit harder than usual. This is likely the result of throwing it while behind in the count.

Either the cutter needs to go or it needs a major rework. If Kikuchi drops it and goes back to his effective four seam fastball, his results should improve immediately. If somehow Mike Maddux is able to coax a good cutter and improve Kikuchi's pitch mix, that could lead to improvement.

Either way, Kikuchi should improve sooner rather than later. He missed most of Spring Training while pitching in the World Baseball Classic. That was the time to experiment with a new pitch. Not the regular season.