Blue Jays linked to bringing Kikuchi back for next season: report
The Toronto Blue Jays could see a familiar face come back into the mix this winter.
While the Jays are aiming for top free agents this offseason, former Toronto starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi could be ripe for a reunion should Plan A — or maybe even Plan B — not work out.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Jays are keeping tabs on Kikuchi’s market and could be in line to sign him again, though their first aspirations could come in the form of Corbin Burnes and Max Fried.
Passan tabbed Kikuchi in the “upper-middle-tier starters” segment of his article, a rung below the top four starting pitchers hitting the market, including Burnes, Fried, Blake Snell, and Jack Flaherty.
A fan favourite during his time in Toronto known for his media appearances, love for whisky, and tweets about using a fake name at Starbucks, Kikuchi could once again endear himself to a Canadian fan base.
“[Kikuchi is] awfully popular, too, after shoving for Houston following a maligned trade from Toronto. The Astros want him back, and other teams expected to operate in the midtier pitching market — the Cubs, Dodgers, Angels and, if they whiff on the bigger names, Blue Jays and Orioles — could compete for the 33-year-old’s services,” Passan wrote.
Kikuchi was 21-22 with an ERA of 4.48 and 435 strikeouts in 86 appearances for the Blue Jays in his career, spending time with the team over three seasons before being traded to Houston earlier this year.
Due to the Astros not being able to have a qualifying offer for Kikuchi as a midseason acquisition, the Jays are expected to have heavy competition for his services.
“Without having a qualifying offer, you see a whole menu of teams that would not normally be participating for a starter at that level,” Kikuchi’s agent Scott Boras said, per The Athletic’s Chandler Rome. “For that reason, he’s one of the most sought-after players in free agency.”
Once Kikuchi got to the Lone Star State, he was firing on all cylinders, as he had a record of 5-1 with an ERA of 2.70 and 76 strikeouts in 10 appearances for the Astros.
While he primarily operated as a starting pitcher, he also made 12 bullpen appearances in 2022 while with Toronto.
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