Adjustments Finally Paying off for Blue Jays’ Kikuchi

Now more comfortable with some mechanical adjustments, Yusei Kikuchi was excellent through six innings versus a hot Yankees team.

TORONTO — At just 65 pitches, Yusei Kikuchi prepared to pitch into the sixth inning for the first time this season.

It was quite a rush for the Blue Jays starter to get to this point, and the Yankees halted a bit of momentum with a leadoff double. Kikuchi, though, seemed more locked in than usual. The Japanese left-hander got a groundout, then licked his fingers and geared up for a game-altering at-bat with AL East juggernaut Aaron Judge.

Instead of dousing Judge in cutters—or intentionally walking him altogether—Kikuchi attacked with the fastball. The sixth pitch of the at-bat, Kikuchi’s fourth straight four-seam fastball, caught Judge looking. The Yankees slugger was displeased, but the 29,057 fans at Rogers Centre loved it.

"You got to give Kikuchi a lot of credit for facing one of the best hitters in baseball a third time around," Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. "And he struck him out."

At long last, Kikuchi delivered a smooth outing in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over New York, lowering his season ERA to 4.35. There have been a lot of moving pieces for the 30-year-old through his first five starts, so it’s worth examining everything that went into his best performance of the year.

The changes are making sense

The Kikuchi in start No. 5 looked dramatically different than the Kikuchi from as recently as April 24 in Houston. He’s tinkering with his pitch mix—notably changing his cutter/slider—and dropping the hesitation from the leg kick in his delivery. All of this is happening while he’s getting acclimated to a new team in a new country.

"Tonight, I felt a lot more comfortable with the little adjustments that we made," Kikuchi said through a translator. "And I think that was the biggest difference."

Before the game, Kikuchi said he met with Jays pitching coach Pete Walker, who emphasized a different approach to the lefty's sharp breaking pitch.

"He told me to throw this harder slider, almost like a bigger cutter," Kikuchi said. "And that really stuck with me. We were playing around with a couple different grips, and still working things out, still trying to get that feel for that pitch, but it's been feeling better and better each day."

Kikuchi also mentioned catcher Tyler Heineman's set-up spots behind the plate as another active adjustment that led to added success. 

The tools are sharpening, and Kikuchi is using them well

Kikuchi has the pitch mix of a dominant starter. Even with the looping curve now gone from his arsenal, Kikuchi worked with blazing efficiency, recording four of his seven strikeouts on the changeup, and putting up a remarkable 40% called-strike-plus-whiff rate.

The lone Yankees run came off a Joey Gallo solo shot—which the Blue Jays will certainly trade for an uptick in effectiveness—and, best of all, Kikuchi issued just one walk.

"I think that first [pitch] strike percentage definitely was up tonight," Kikuchi said. "And I feel like that just put myself in a better position throughout the night."

Kikuchi struggled mightily to hit the zone in previous starts, but was completely zoned in Wednesday. His pace and consistency ultimately offered a refreshing boost to his teammates on defense and the bullpen behind him, setting Toronto up nicely for yet another closely contested win.

A strong rotation takes a load off

Before Wednesday, Toronto’s 2.6 WAR from starting pitchers led the AL. Kevin Gausman and Alek Manoah have been spectacular, and José Berríos and Ross Stripling have held their own, alleviating some serious pressure off Kikuchi.

The quality of the rest of the rotation affords Kikuchi the time to mess around with his stuff. The Blue Jays saw something in Kikuchi this offseason that they thought they can work with, and while there have been significant growing pains, the team is inching towards a finished product.

He doesn’t need to be flawless every time, but the Blue Jays will take an efficient Kikuchi outing every five days. That doesn’t always have to look like six innings of one-run ball, but it’ll be a bonus when he pops off for a sound performance like Wednesday’s.