Although Yusei Kikuchi is arriving in the major leagues with less fanfare than Shohei Ohtani did a year ago, the lefty could — like Ohtani did — help change people's minds about Japanese pitching.
Kikuchi, who has reportedly reached a deal with the Seattle Mariners, has a chance to join Ohtani as one of the few Japanese starters willing to challenge major league hitters with fastballs in the strike zone. Not only has Kikuchi been Japan's hardest-throwing left-handed starter, he is arguably Nippon Professional Baseball's predominant strike-thrower.
According to baseball analytics website Deltagraphs, Kikuchi's percentage of pitches in the strike zone has increased in each of the past four seasons. In 2017, when he went 16-6 with a 1.97 ERA, Kikuchi ranked sixth among ERA qualifiers in strike zone percentage. This year he was second with 49.2 percent of his deliveries in the zone just behind rookie Katsuki Azuma's 49.3.