Ohtani High School senior Kikuchi also confirmed his starting pitcher for the opening game, and 10% of the starting pitchers for the ML opening game are from Japan (Min Chang-ki's Japanese baseball)

Feb 21, 2025

L.A. Angels left-hander Kikuchi was named the starting pitcher for the away opener against the Chicago White Sox. Yonhap News

Kikuchi signed a three-year, $63 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels in November last year. The Angels are the fourth team after Seattle, Toronto and Houston. Yonhap News

From the beginning of the season, the Japanese craze is likely to hit the Major League. Another Japanese pitcher will start the opening game after Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (27) and Chicago Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga (32). The Los Angeles Angels announced on the 21st (Korea time) that Yusei Kikuchi (34) will start the game against the Chicago White Sox on March 28. It's the opening game of the away game in Chicago. This is the first time that three Japanese pitchers will start the opening game of the same season. Ten percent of the 30 Major League teams' starting pitchers are Japanese.

Earlier, Yamamoto and Imana, who are in their second year in the Major League, were selected for the opening game. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs will play the opening series at Tokyo Dome in Japan on March 18-19. On the first day, the two Japanese pitchers were appointed as starters. Yamamoto and Imanaga crossed into the U.S. side by side through the posting system last year. The two players, who won the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) Japan, became the main players of the Japanese' first opening match.

He is the starter for the opening game from the first year of his transfer. Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington said `It didn't take much time to decide Kikuchi as the starting pitcher for the opening game.' He did not recruit Kikuchi to be the starting pitcher for the second or third time. I brought him to lead the starting line," he stressed. U.S. media also responded that Kikuchi's starting position for the opening game was not surprising.

In November last year, he signed a three-year-$63 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels. It is a special contract with an average annual salary of more than $20 million. 2024's performance has raised the ransom.

Photo =Chicago Cubs official X account

I wore the uniforms of two teams last season. He was traded from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Houston Astros on July 29 of that year. He was the first Japanese pitcher to throw in a Houston uniform. He won four games in 22 games for Toronto and five in 10 games for Houston.

He moved to Houston and recorded a 2.70 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP (on-base allowance per inning) in the second half of the year. He clearly showed his presence in the new team and served as a winning contractor. The transfer during the season was a strong motivation for Kikuchi. He played 175 ⅔ innings last year. It's the most innings in a major league. I even checked the durability.

Kikuchi won his 41st major league victory last year, surpassing Kazuhisa Ishii. Japanese left-hander recorded the most wins in his Major League career.

Kikuchi graduated from Hanamaki Higashi High School in Iwate Prefecture. Shohei Ohtani(31, LA Dodgers) is widely known as a high school senior. The Seibu Lions selected kikuchi as the No. 1 pick in the 2010 rookie draft. He won 73 games for Seibu and opted for a major league challenge. 2019년 시애