Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi announced as Angels' opening day starter - Los Angeles Times
“It’s obvious,” Washington said as the team held its second-to-last workout before Saturday’s Cactus League opener against the Seattle Mariners. “We just signed him to a big contract. We didn’t bring him here to be No. 4 or 5 [starter]. We didn’t bring him here to be a three or a two. We brought him here to lead our staff.”
Kikuchi, a 33-year-old veteran with a 41-47 career record and 4.57 ERA in 166 games over six big-league seasons, went 4-9 with a 4.75 ERA in 22 starts with the Toronto Blue Jays last season but was dominant after being traded in late July to the Houston Astros, going 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 10 starts for the American League West champions.
“Very happy and honored … but it is just one game,” Kikuchi, speaking through an interpreter, said of his first major league opening-day assignment. “What’s most important is staying healthy over 32 starts in a season and putting up the numbers. That’s what I’m more focused on.”
Mike DiGiovanna has been covering Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Times since 1995 and spent 19 years as the Angels beat writer and two seasons on the Dodgers. He won Associated Press Sports Editors awards for game-story writing in 2001, feature-story writing in 2017 and breaking news in 2019. A native of East Lyme, Conn., and a graduate of Cal State Fullerton, he began writing for The Times in 1981.
