Yusei Kikuchi has put last year behind him. All the wins, the career numbers and accolades, firmly in the rearview mirror. His brush with the Sawamura Award, now just a fond memory.
"Last year was last year, and this year is this year," Kikuchi told The Japan Times in a suite high above the field at Seibu's MetLife Dome on Saturday afternoon. "I think it's important to make that distinction because winning is not guaranteed. So I've been practicing over the offseason in order to have better numbers."
The Lions ace is entering his eighth NPB season. He'll make his third straight opening day start when the Lions face the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on Friday at Sapporo Dome. The left-hander's career had an up-and-down start before his first double-digit win season in 2016. That turned out to be merely the warm-up for a 2017 that was off the charts.