MLB free agents can now enter the market. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Yusei Kikuchi, the southpaw starting pitcher for the Houston Astros, is linked to several teams, including the Dodgers.
Passan also included the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angels, Chicago Cubs, and Baltimore Orioles in addition to the Dodgers. But the 2021 American League All-Star has also shown interest in staying with the Astros.
In 2019, Kikuchi joined the Seattle Mariners to begin his Major League Baseball career. Then, in 2022, he became a free agent and signed a three-year, $36 million deal with the Blue Jays. Before the team dealt him to Houston at the trade deadline, he spent two and a half seasons with Toronto. He started ten games for the Astros. He pitched 60 innings with a 5-1 record, 2.70 ERA, and 76 strikeouts.
Along with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani, Kikuchi would be the third pitcher of Japanese descent to join the Dodgers’ rotation. Ohtani’s homeland of Oshu is about an hour away from Kikuchi’s hometown of Morioka, Japan.
Roki Sasaki, a fourth starter who was born in Japan, may perhaps end up in Los Angeles. Sasaki’s choice might have been influenced by the Dodgers’ notoriety in Japan due to the presence of Yamamoto and Ohtani.
Los Angeles will have seven returning starting pitchers regardless of the free agents the Dodgers sign. Next season, the Dodgers will still have Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Emmett Sheehan, Tyler Glasnow, Landon Knack, Yamamoto, and Ohtani. Ohtani’s recuperation following surgery for a torn labrum, however, might postpone his return to the mound.14 walks and 14 strikeouts.
