When Yusei Kikuchi makes his first start as a major league player at Tokyo Dome on Thursday, he won't be too far away from Seibu Dome, where he stood on the mound for the first time as a professional in June of 2011.
"In terms of looking forward to it (his MLB debut), I also looked forward to that game, so it's not different than when I made my debut in Japan," Kikuchi said Wednesday on the eve of his MLB debut at the Big Egg.
"When I was 15, my coach said let's shoot for the major leagues. I couldn't afford to really think about that at the time, because I had so many important games in front of me. But tomorrow I'll be able to compete on the stage I was aiming for, so I feel a lot of positive emotions about that."