ANAHEIM – The Angels today agreed to a three-year, $63 million contract ($21 million annually) with LHP Yusei Kikuchi.
Kikuchi, 33, set career highs in 2024 in innings pitched (175.2), strikeouts (206) and WHIP (1.20) in 32 starts between Toronto and Houston. He ranked third in the American League in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (10.55), fifth in strikeouts and was sixth in strikeout to walk ratio (4.68). After joining the Astros on July 29, he went 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA (60 IP – 18 ER) and 76 strikeouts in 10 starts. The 76 strikeouts tied Roger Clemens for fourth-most in Astros history through a player’s first 10 games with the Club, trailing Randy Johnson (108), Gerrit Cole (101) and Justin Verlander (82).
A native of Morioka, Japan, Kikuchi played eight seasons (2011-18) in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Saitama Seibu Lions, going 73-46 with a 2.77 ERA (1010.2 IP – 311 ER) and 903 strikeouts in 158 games (108 starts). He made his Major League debut with the Seattle Mariners on March 21, 2019 vs. Oakland at the Tokyo Dome. In six MLB seasons, he has posted a 41-47 record with a 4.57 ERA (809.2 IP – 411 ER) and 837 strikeouts in 166 games (154 starts) with the Mariners (2019-21), Blue Jays (2022-24) and Astros (2024).
Kikuchi was a three-time NPB All-Star and was selected to the 2021 American League All-Star team. He would become the sixth Japanese-born player in Angels history, following: Shigetoshi Hasegawa (1997-2001), Hideki Matsui (2010), Hisanori Takahashi (2011-12), Shohei Ohtani (2018-23) and Junichi Tazawa (2018).
