Diagnosing a failed Kikuchi relaunch
Aug 16 2022
In the Arsenal Report we spend most of our words praising pitchers who have improved by changing their approach or pitch mix. This week is a little bit different, as our primary topic is a pitcher who had significant hype as a breakout candidate for 2022. Yusei Kikuchi (LHP, TOR) has made significant, sensible changes in 2022, but has gotten worse, giving us the opportunity to potentially learn from why he has struggled.
Kikuchi breakout still delayed
Kikuchi was one of the most popular free agent starting pitching targets prior to the 2022 season despite a career 4.97 ERA heading into the season. This was largely because of the potential that Kikuchi’s stuff showed despite a lack of results and control since his fastball velocity...
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