ANAHEIM -- Despite the way it ended, Yusei Kikuchi finished his season on a high note.
Kikuchi pitched five innings -- the first four hitless -- and earned his seventh win of the season. He left with finger cramping before the beginning of the sixth inning of Wednesday’s 3-2 win vs. the Royals.
Kikuchi went out to the mound to begin warming up for the sixth, but was quickly visited by a trainer before walking off the mound. The Angels initially said Kikuchi left the game with a cramp in his left forearm, but Kikuchi later clarified, through interpreter Yusuke Oshima, that it was more the lower part of his fingers. Both Kikuchi and the Angels said that it was just a minor cramp and shouldn’t affect him at all going forward. José Fermín entered the game in relief.
“Super positive finish there with the way he went about it tonight,” Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “Commanding the ball, handling the ball as good as we’ve seen all year, he was efficient. Who knows how far he would’ve gone tonight had he not gotten that little cramp.”
In what was already expected to be his last start of the season, Kikuchi didn't allow a hit until Randal Grichuk led off the top of the fifth inning with a home run. That turned out to be the only run and hit Kikuchi allowed, to go along with a walk and six strikeouts on 66 pitches.
Kikuchi signed a three-year $63.7 million contract with the Angels last offseason and has been one of their most reliable arms in a rotation that has been marred by injuries and inconsistency. He reached new career highs in starts (33) and innings pitched (178 1/3).
“I’m glad I was able to pitch and stay in the rotation the entire year,” Kikuchi said through Oshima. “I’ve been able to do that for the last three seasons. Looking at my numbers, it’s been similar the last three years.”
There are both positives and negatives to take from that. Kikuchi’s 3.99 ERA this season is his lowest since pitching 3.86 with the Blue Jays in 2023; those are also the only two seasons in Kikuchi’s seven-year career that he’s finished with a sub-4.00 ERA. His WHIP, however, was up to 1.42, his worst since 2022.
It’s not just the innings that he has given the team. In Montgomery’s eyes, it’s Kikuchi’s presence in the clubhouse and the way it’s rubbed off on the younger players around him since he arrived in the spring.
And looking ahead to 2026, Montgomery thinks there’s still room for Kikuchi to grow.
“His presence is enormous,” Montgomery said. “A lot of times when you bring guys in that first year, there’s an adaptation and getting used to everybody here. I think we’ll probably see an even better version of him next year.”
Kikuchi agrees.
“I think I had another gear,” Kikuchi said. “And I think I can take the positives from this year, and I can be even better next year.”