Kikuchi Plays Hero When Blue Jays Need Him Most

Yusei Kikuchi was great in his first outing, tossing five innings and helping the Blue Jays beat the Royals 4-1.

It’s really hard to win baseball games without good starting pitching. And Tuesday, after three strenuous losses in a row, the Blue Jays turned to unlikely hero Yusei Kikuchi to stop the pain.

The left-hander swooped in to save the day. He powered through the Royals and helped Toronto get off the field with a sound 4-1 win. All told, a herculean effort compared to how other Blue Jays starters have performed this season (10.80 ERA in four starts).

Unlike José Berríos and Chris Bassitt before him, Kikuchi danced through the first frame scot-free. A year ago, that was no guarantee – he pitched to a 6.86 ERA with 22 walks and 21 strikeouts in 20 first-inning appearances in 2022. 

The fresh start was especially key, and it paved the way to five innings of one-run baseball for Toronto's fifth starter. Of course, odd as it was, Kikuchi didn’t walk or strike out a single batter through four innings. Just outs, outs, outs. 

A center-cut mistake to Franmil Reyes briefly staggered the lefty. After the ball landed 455 feet in left-center field for a solo homer, the jitters snuck in. Kikuchi’s finger-licking tick sped up. A changeup slipped out of his hand and sailed six feet over Danny Jansen’s head. Yet Kikuchi escaped thanks to a great toss by Daulton Varsho.

The second inning teetered in the wrong direction, but a bullseye toss from Daulton Varsho in left field saved things from spiraling further. As the outing moseyed along and Toronto took a slim lead, Kikuchi’s confidence grew. The pitch clock added a punchy rhythm to Kikuchi's march through Kansas City hitters.

His finest moment materialized in the fifth inning, when two men reached but didn’t score. Kikuchi punched out Nate Eaton with some high cheese, then dropped the slider for a swinging strikeout of Nicky Lopez.

Beyond some fine command and rare fiery celebration on the mound,  Kikuchi’s fastball velocity stood out. The four-seamer averaged 96.2 mph, up from 94.9 mph a season ago, and he cranked the heater as high as 97.8 mph Tuesday.

From a team morale perspective, this outing was gargantuan. Crisp starting pitching allowed the Blue Jays’ team-hitting approach to do its job. Mat Chapman, in the cleanup spot Tuesday, sliced a run-scoring single, one of three hits on the evening, to put Toronto on the board. The third baseman is now 11-for-19 (.579) on the year. Once the Jays had the lead, Varsho added to it with a solo homer, his first of the season.

Emotionally, this contest was a breeze – nothing like the torture session that was Berríos’ series-opening start Monday at Kauffman Stadium. The 28-year-old got ravaged for three runs in the first, and he ended his day charged with eight earned runs through 5.2 innings. The Royals finished with a win on nine runs, more than doubling the four-run output from their previous series.

Each agonizing Berríos outing plunges fans – and Jays staffers, I imagine – down a rabbit hole seeking what’s gone wrong. Is it as simple as fastball command? Have all those innings caught up to him? The answer to Berríos’ struggles must be buried very well because Blue Jays pitching coaches (and lowly writers) have racked their brains searching for it, to no avail.

I do know this, though: the right-hander needed a smooth start to the season, and he didn’t get it. So now the consternation builds and builds. Berríos said he wasn’t himself Monday – that part is true – but he must be doubting himself now, even if he wasn’t before. Otherwise, he’s not human.

Fear not, there is hope yet — let Kikuchi’s shining outing remind Berríos and company that better things are just one outing away. The Blue Jays should feel good about this victory, too, and a similar effort Wednesday will blaze the trail to an important series win.