Page 120 - 2025 Los Angeles Angels Media Guide

LHP
YUSEI KIKUCHI

16 LEFT LEFT 6-1 215

BORN: JUNE 17, 1991 OPENING DAY AGE: 33
BIRTHPLACE: MORIOKA, JAPAN RESIDES: TOKYO, JAPAN
MLB SERVICE: 6 YEARS
ACQUIRED: SIGNED AS A MAJOR LEAGUE FREE AGENT, NOV. 27, 2024
SIGNED THRU: 2027; SIGNED THREE-YEAR CONTRACT, NOV. 27, 2024

KIKUCHI’S LIFETIME PITCHING RECORD
Year Club W-L ERA G GS CG GF SHO SV IP H R ER HR HB BB IBB SO WP BK BAA
2011— Seibu 4-1 4.14 10 9 0 2 0 0 54.1 63 26 25 6 3 8 0 24 1 0 -
KIKUCHI
2012— Seibu 4-3 3.10 14 12 0 1 0 1 81.1 75 34 28 5 1 25 0 57 3 0 -
2013— Seibu 9-4 1.92 17 17 3 0 3 0 108.0 79 28 23 5 3 44 0 92 2 0 -
2014— Seibu 5-11 3.54 23 23 1 0 0 0 139.2 133 61 55 9 5 78 0 111 7 1 -
2015— Seibu 9-10 2.84 23 21 0 0 0 0 133.0 97 48 42 9 2 55 1 122 5 1 -
2016— Seibu 12-7 2.58 22 22 2 0 0 0 143.0 117 51 41 7 2 67 0 127 3 0 -
2017— Seibu 16-6 1.97 26 26 6 0 4 0 187.2 122 49 41 16 6 49 0 217 6 0 -
2018— Seibu 14-4 3.08 23 23 1 0 0 0 163.2 124 59 56 16 4 45 1 153 7 0 -
2019— SEATTLE 6-11 5.46 32 32 1 0 1 0 161.2 195 109 98 36 6 50 0 116 5 1 .295
2020— SEATTLE 2-4 5.17 9 9 0 0 0 0 47.0 41 27 27 3 0 20 0 47 3 0 .238
2021— SEATTLE 7-9 4.41 29 29 0 0 0 0 157.0 145 82 77 27 5 62 0 163 6 0 .243
2022— TORONTO 6-7 5.19 32 20 0 4 0 1 100.2 93 67 58 23 9 58 0 124 3 0 .243
Buffalo (1) 1-0 0.00 1 1 0 0 0 0 5.0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 4 0 0 .133
2023— TORONTO 11-6 3.86 32 32 0 0 0 0 167.2 165 78 72 27 4 48 0 181 7 0 .255
2024— TORONTO 4-9 4.75 22 22 0 0 0 0 115.2 125 63 61 17 2 30 0 130 2 0 .272
HOUSTON 5-1 2.70 10 10 0 0 0 0 60.0 42 22 18 8 0 14 0 76 2 0 .188
MAJOR TOTALS 41-47 4.57 166 154 1 4 1 1 809.2 806 448 411 141 26 282 0 837 28 1 .257
JAPAN TOTALS 73-46 2.77 158 153 13 3 7 1 1010.2 810 356 311 73 26 371 2 903 34 2 -
MINOR TOTALS 1-0 0.00 1 1 0 0 0 0 5.0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 4 0 0 .133
 led or tied for league lead
(1) rehab assignment
Disabling Injuries: 2022 — N eck s tr ain; disabled July 7 - July 28
Disabling Injuries: 2022 — Neck strain; disabled July 7 - July 28

Disabled July 11 - July 12

—
2021 — Disabled July 11 - July 12
2021
2024 SEASON
◆ Began sixth Major League season and third with Blue Jays...Went 4-9 with a 4.75 ERA (115.2 IP - 61 ER) and 130
strikeouts across 22 starts with Toronto.
◆ Struck out a career-high 13 batters on July 9 at SF...Notched double-digit strikeouts in three starts in 2024 (also, Aug.
2 vs. TB and Aug. 31 vs. KC).
◆ Traded from Blue Jays to Astros on July 29, 2024 in exchange for RHP Jake Bloss, OF Joey Loperfido, and INF Will Wagner.
◆ Went 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA (60 IP - 18 ER) and 76 strikeouts in 10 starts with Houston; Kikuchi’s 76 strikeouts tied
for the fourth-most in Astros history through a player’s first 10 appearances with the club (Roger Clemens, 2004).
◆ Set a franchise record by pitching the Astros to nine consecutive team wins through his first nine starts with the Club.
◆ Tied Astros franchise record by striking out eight consecutive batters on Aug. 2 vs. TB; Also became first pitcher in
MLB history to strike out eight consecutive hitters in a team debut...Became the fifth player in Astros history to strike
out 11+ batters in their debut with the team.
◆ Finished the season 9-10 with a 4.05 ERA (175.2 IP - 79 ER) and 206 strikeouts combined across his time with
Toronto and Houston...Finished third in the American League in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (10.55), fifth in strikeouts
(206), and sixth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.68).
◆ Became 12th Japanese-born pitcher to record at least 200 strikeouts in a single season...Kikuchi’s 206 punchouts in
2024 rank 10th all-time for a Japanese-born pitcher.
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