2024 Stats
W-L
9-9
ERA
4.19
WHIP
1.21
K
198
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
Fans nine in quality start
Kikuchi did not factor into the decision in a win over the Angels on Thursday, allowing one run on five hits and one walk over six innings while striking out nine.
ANALYSIS
Kikuchi held the Angels' lineup in check after surrendering a leadoff home run to Taylor Ward to open the game, allowing just one batter to reach second base from the second inning on. The veteran southpaw induced 14 whiffs on the night while posting at least six strikeouts for the fourth-consecutive outing. However, he was still unable to come away with his fourth straight win despite his valiant effort. Kikuchi has also gone at least six innings in each of his last four outings, logging quality starts in three of them.
Kikuchi held the Angels' lineup in check after surrendering a leadoff home run to Taylor Ward to open the game, allowing just one batter to reach second base from the second inning on. The veteran southpaw induced 14 whiffs on the night while posting at least six strikeouts for the fourth-consecutive outing. However, he was still unable to come away with his fourth straight win despite his valiant effort. Kikuchi has also gone at least six innings in each of his last four outings, logging quality starts in three of them.
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
91
Last 10 Games
97
Last 5 Games
97
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
-16%
BAA vs LHP
2024
-7%
BAA vs LHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2022vs Left | .217 | 104 | 25 | 76 | 13 | |||
| Since 2022vs Right | .258 | 399 | 124 | 345 | 62 | |||
| 2024vs Left | .233 | 40 | 8 | 31 | 5 | |||
| 2024vs Right | .250 | 158 | 35 | 132 | 20 | |||
| 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
-5%
ERA at Home
2024
-3%
ERA at Home
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2022Home | 4.18 | 1.17 | 232.1 | 10.7 | 2.7 | ||||
| Since 2022Away | 4.42 | 1.45 | 205.2 | 9.9 | 3.5 | ||||
| 2024Home | 4.13 | 1.15 | 98.0 | 10.7 | 1.8 | ||||
| 2024Away | 4.27 | 1.30 | 71.2 | 10.2 | 2.9 | ||||
| 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
4.60K/9
10.5BB/9
2.3HR/9
1.3Fastball
95.6 mphERA
4.19WHIP
1.21BABIP
.330GB/FB
1.23Left On Base
71.9%Exit Velocity
82.9 mphBarrels/BBE
5.5%Spin Rate
2284 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
26.2%Swinging Strike
13.1%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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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
Remains unbeaten with Houston
Kikuchi (9-9) picked up the win Friday, giving up three runs on three hits and two walks over seven innings in a 5-3 victory over the Angels. He struck out six.
ANALYSIS
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Carried to eighth win by offense
Kikuchi (8-9) picked up the win Saturday, giving up four runs on seven hits over six innings in an 11-5 victory over the Diamondbacks. He struck out six without walking a batter.
ANALYSIS
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Racks up 12 punchouts in victory
Kikuchi (7-9) earned the win over Kansas City on Saturday, allowing one run on five hits and no walks while striking out 12 batters over seven innings.
ANALYSIS
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Allows just two hits in no-decision
Kikuchi allowed three runs on two hits and three walks while striking out four over 5.2 innings in Sunday's win over the Orioles. He did not factor into the decision.
ANALYSIS
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Fans seven in no-decision
Kikuchi allowed three runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk while striking out seven batters over 5.2 innings in a no-decision against Boston on Monday.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Emphasizing slider
Kikuchi has been utilizing his slider as his secondary pitch during the second half of the season while relying less on the curveball, per Eno Sarris of The Athletic.
ANALYSIS
The curveball's usage rate for the season still sits at 18.5 percent, which is on par with 2023, but he's thrown it only a handful of times in each start since being acquired by the Astros. Kikuchi has also thrown his slider around 40 percent or more of late as he's primarily shifted to a two-pitch mix, especially versus left-handed hitters. The results speak for themselves thus far, as Kikuchi has a 3.07 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 53:10 K:BB across 41 frames in seven starts since the trade.
The curveball's usage rate for the season still sits at 18.5 percent, which is on par with 2023, but he's thrown it only a handful of times in each start since being acquired by the Astros. Kikuchi has also thrown his slider around 40 percent or more of late as he's primarily shifted to a two-pitch mix, especially versus left-handed hitters. The results speak for themselves thus far, as Kikuchi has a 3.07 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 53:10 K:BB across 41 frames in seven starts since the trade.