Los Angeles Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi had to leave yesterday's game early, and now his status is uncertain.
The Los Angeles Angels lost another game yesterday as the bullpen blew up once again, and the loss of starter Yusei Kikuchi added injury to insult as he left the mound due to a shoulder issue.
Kikuchi said he felt tightness in his shoulder in his last start when he was throwing fastballs, and his velocity was down to 94.2, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. He left after throwing a warmup pitch before the third inning, and usually this kind of sequence indicates an upcoming stint on the IL, which is something the Angels can ill afford right now.
“I feel tightness in my shoulder when I throw fastballs only,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Koki Goto. “I felt like I could push through if I wanted to, but I didn't want to take any chances at that moment, so I decided to step down. I’ll have to talk with the training staff and see how I feel tomorrow.”
The Angels starter managed to throw two scoreless innings before he left, but he was met at the mound by manager Kurt Suzuki, pitching coach Mike Maddux and head athletic training Mike Frostad before the start of the third, and left-hander Mitch Farris was immediately called on to fill in.
“Any time you have to come out of the game, I think it's a concern,” Suzuki said. “We'll go check it and re-evaluate it tomorrow and see how he feels and see where we're at.”
Kikuchi has been changing his arm angles in an effort to lower his current ERA of 5.81, but he doesn’t think that’s related to the stiffness.
"I don’t think that was the cause of this issue,” Kikuchi said. “I feel like my condition was getting better every start, so I'm just frustrated at the moment."
Kikuchi was reliable last year with an ERA of 3.99 and 174 strikeouts in 178-1/3 innings, but so far this season he’s been anything but. The Angels have no idea what Kikuchi is going to give them from start to start, so perhaps a stint on the IL will help with that issue.
The larger problem is that the Angels don’t have anything resembling rotation depth, which means it will likely be tryout time if Kikuchi is out for any length of time. Farris fared well in relief yesterday, giving up just one run in 3-2/3 innings, but he’s been consistent, as have Caden Dana, George Klassen and Sam Aldegheri, who are the other candidates to be next up.
None of this is going to be pretty, but this is where the Angels are right now with a poorly-constructed pitching staff that can’t get outs consistently to support what’s become a powerful offense.