Page 81 - 2026 Los Angeles Angels Media Guide

Yusei
Y usei
16 KIKUCHI

Bats Throws Height Weight
LHP LEFT LEFT 6-0 210
BORN: JUNE 17, 1991 OPENING DAY AGE: 34
BIRTHPLACE: MORIOKA, JAPAN RESIDES: TOKYO, JAPAN
MLB SERVICE: 7 YEARS
ACQUIRED: SIGNED AS FREE AGENT, NOV. 27, 2024
SIGNED THRU: 2027; SIGNED THREE-YEAR CONTRACT, NOV. 27, 2024

KIKUCHI’S LIFETIME PITCHING RECORD KIKUCHI
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 -
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
2025— LAA 7-11 3.99 33 33 0 0 0 0 178.1 180 87 79 24 3 74 3 174 8 0 .261
MAJOR TOTALS 48-58 4.46 199 187 1 4 1 1 988.0 986 535 490 165 29 356 3 1011 36 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
—

2022

tr
eck s
Disabling Injuries: 2022 — Neck strain; disabled July 7 - July 28
Disabling Injuries:
ain; disabled July 7 - July 28
N
2021 — Disabled July 11 - July 12
2021 — Disabled July 11 - July 12
2025 SEASON
◆ In first season with Angels, tied for American League lead with a career-high 33 starts and went 7-11 with a 3.99 ERA
(178.1 IP - 79 ER) and 174 strikeouts...Third straight season making at least 32 starts.
◆ Made first career MLB Opening Day start on March 27 at White Sox...Became second Japanese-born pitcher to
make an Opening Day start for the Angels (Shohei Ohtani - 2022 & 2023).
◆ Named an A.L. All-Star for the second time in his career (also, 2021 with Seattle)...115 strikeouts before the All-Star
Break were the most for an Angels pitcher since Shohei Ohtani had 132 first half SO in 2023 and were the most by
an Angels left-hander since Chuck Finley (135 SO) in 1998.
◆ Led qualified Angels pitchers in games started (33), innings pitched (178.1 IP), strikeouts (174), strikeout rate (22.5%),
and ERA (3.99).
◆ Recorded 1000th career strikeout on Sept. 6 vs. A’s and became the fourth Japanese-born pitcher in MLB history to
reach 1,000 career strikeouts, joining Yu Darvish, Hideo Nomo and Kenta Maeda.
◆ Went 6-3 with a 2.93 ERA (89.0 IP - 29 ER) and 87 strikeouts at home...His home ERA ranked eighth among American
League pitchers (min. 15 home starts)... In his 16 home starts, stranded 83.3% of runners on base and held opponents
to a .250 (31/124) average against with runners on, including a .246 (15/61) average with runners in scoring position.
◆ Had two starts allowing just one hit , on June 6 vs. ATH (7.1 IP) and Sept. 24 vs. KC (5.0 IP)...In June 6 start, set a career-
high by retiring the first 13 hitters of the game before allowing a single with one out in the 5th inning.
◆ Made 11 quality starts this season, and held opponents to three-or-fewer earned runs in 25 of 33 starts...Did not
allow more than two earned runs in 18 starts on the campaign.
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