Angels' $63 Million Star Opens Up on Recent Whirlwind Performance

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi spoke about his start Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles, for which he received a loss despite his dominant showing.

“I think the stuff was there,” Kikuchi said through his interpreter. “I think that was the best stuff I had this season. Obviously, you saw the amount of strikeouts I had. But obviously the results weren’t there. So I was disappointed that we lost the game.”

The southpaw threw 5.2 innings, allowing five runs and striking out a season-high 10 batters.

The Angels found themselves behind after Ramon Urias swung the lead in the O's favor, cancelling out a first inning Nolan Schanuel solo shot with a bomb of his own. Kikuchi managed five strikeouts in the second and third innings, but exited the game while the Angels were down 5-2 in the sixth. A late inning bullpen implosion and a quiet few innings from the Angels' offense sealed the game.

A lack of run support has defined Kikuchi's season, as he is 2-6 and has the lowest ERA and highest strikeouts per nine innings among Angels starters. He has the highest ERA+ among all Angels pitchers with a 134 mark.

Kikuchi signed with the Angels in the offseason after entering free agency after the 2024 season, and has been the rotation's best pitcher with 2.3 WAR. Kikuchi has had two strong starts in a row, as last time out against the Athletics he lasted 7.1 innings and allowed just one hit and no runs.

The Angels will hope to see more of the same out of their offseason acquisition while they try to figure out a way to maintain a consistent offense.

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