MILWAUKEE, WI —So where are they going from here?
That’s the question the Toronto Blue Jays have to answer after Yusei Kikuchi’s last self-combustion in a 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. Erratic, inefficient, slow and uncertain, Kikuchi outscored two more than two hard-to-see entries on Saturday, ending with as many hits as recorded outs.
After a stellar stretch this May, when he pitched with a 2.36 ERA in five starts, Kikuchi’s season has collapsed in June. His ERA of more than five starts this month now stands at 9.39. His speed, his fast ball control and his duration of appearance have been declining. He hasn’t completed five innings since his last outing in May, putting undue pressure on an already stressed bullpen as the Blue Jays navigate a 24-game stretch in 24 days before the stars break.
“I won’t stay here to apologize to him. He hasn’t pitched well,” Blue Jays coach Charlie Montoyo said. “And today has put us back in a difficult spot.”
Now, we all know that Kikuchi has been working since spring training on a number of tweaks that the Blue Jays believe can unlock their potential. Increasing their use of fast ball; abandon your cutter; throwing his slider harder; cut their time between launches; eliminating hesitation in its delivery; using different sequences, lanes, and receiver configurations. It’s a lot and it’s worth noting that Kikuchi has only been Blue Jay for just over three months. He deserves a clue to find out all these things.
But he could benefit from the opportunity to do so out of competition. Because trying to do all these tweaks every five or six days in live matches that count, against the best batsmen in the world, doesn’t work. And the Blue Jays games are costing them. The club have lost five of Kikuchi’s last seven starters and 10 of their 14 outings this season. And one of those four wins was Toronto’s incredible comeback after a five-run deficit against the New York Yankees last weekend.
“He just has to keep working on it,” Montoyo said when asked where his club would go from here with Kikuchi. “When he goes on strike, he pulls people out. Do you have, what, about fifty tickets and sixty-some punches? But he just has to command his throws. We all know he has good things. But at the end of the day, you have to strike. “
Of course, it would never be easy Saturday with the Milwaukee Brewers sending Corbin Burnes up the hill. As usual, National League contender Cy Young was tremendous, splashing high-pitched, mid-90s cutters away from right-wingers and two left-wingers from the Toronto lineup as he accumulated odors with throws of ball blow break.
Burnes threw in the eighth inning, keeping the Blue Jays to just four hits and two balls during the day. Matt Chapman and Bo Bichette got it for solo shots, but otherwise the Blue Jays barely threatened. Burnes was too nasty and efficient, hitting nine during his 7.2 innings with 18 swinging shots.
That the brewers hand things over to Devin Williams and Josh Hader of their bullpen is very unfair. Williams got Alejandro Kirk, one of MLB’s top hitters this month, to escape by chasing his air change. And even though Hader wasn’t at his best, allowing for a couple of hits and a run, while Lourdes Gurriel Jr. propelled Chapman’s double with two outs, it was still an extraordinarily awkward appearance for the Blue Jays batters, working with feathers at 97 mph. -i-in, including what Gabriel Moreno put on the ground to end the match with the tie in the first place. The best pitchers in Milwaukee arrived as advertised.
Like Kikuchi. He threw 40 throws at the first inning, 12 of them on a walk by Willy Adames, who patiently fouled with four consecutive full-count sliders before looking at one that missed the area. Adams finally scored two singles later, when Trent Thornton began to warm up in the Blue Jays bullpen. It wasn’t until after scoring Mike Brosseau with a missed quick ball that Kikuchi finally entered the dugout finishing off his second inning batter.
Kikuchi’s second box also had many points, three of them. The problem was what was going on in between. A two-base Bichette pitching error; a fast ball that failed so much that Moreno could only deflect it as he sailed to the stop and a runner advanced to third; a simple Adams RBI with a quick ball; and an Andrew McCutchen liner from another heater that sailed over the wall of the left field for a two-run shot.
This entry had only 27 pitches, as Thornton was forced to warm up again. But after a brief break for the Blue Jays to hit, Thornton pitched again when Kikuchi started his third box, a pretty clear indication of the inches of rope Montoyo was giving his erratic starter. Kikluchi’s first throw from the entrance failed. His second was knocked down 392 feet above the center-left wall by Brosseau. And Montoyo went out to look for him.
“I’ve struggled in the last few outings, especially with the command, lagging behind in the count. And then the fields where I try to get back to the count are the ones that get pretty strong. So today it’s the same again, unfortunately,” Kikuchi said. through club performer Kevin Ando. “For the most part, I think it’s the first time I’ve struggled with my fast ball control up to this point. It’s definitely going to be the priority: regaining that feeling, regaining that command on that fast ball.”
In a season with no shortage of hard-to-see Kikuchi outings, this may have been the worst. And that includes a four-walk afternoon in Kansas City earlier this month, when he only recorded two outs in 45 pitches. Remember, Kikuchi only allowed three runs that day. On Saturday, he allowed five. And while only two of them will count as won because of Bichette’s mistake, anyone who has seen the exit knows exactly why it went that way.
Kikuchi’s continued reluctance to rely on his fast-paced mid-90s ball has been as baffling to the Blue Jays as it is to anyone who has seen him pitch this season. But just a cursory glance at his chart of steps should tell you exactly why he hesitated to launch it on Saturday:
As soon as it got out of his hand, he was likely to go anywhere. Meanwhile, Kikuchi’s sliders were constantly up and on the plate, which was great news for a Brewers lineup that made a clear decision to hunt them down. Kikuchi threw 37 quick balls and 27 sliders on Saturday, but the Milwaukee hitters placed only nine of those heaters and 18 of the broken balls.
And as Kikuchi continued to miss with his fast ball (only 15 of the 37 he threw resulted in punches), it was only easier for the Brewers to spin. Four of the six strokes Kikuchi allowed came off sliders and three of them came into play at 99 mph or more.
To make matters worse it was the fact that Kikuchi’s fast ball sat at 93.7 mph and hit 95, his season average coming in early, just three times. Kikuchi’s ball breaking speed also dropped significantly, sitting at 83.5 mph. He had averaged 87 mph with his slider entering the exit and throwing the terrain harder was a focal point within the series of adjustments the Blue Jays called for earlier this season. And while he only made five changes a day, these were also coming out smoother – a 2.5 mph drop from his season average.
But ultimately, the root of Kikuchi’s problem is commanding the fast ball. He’s one of the few left-wing starters in the game who has thrown a mid-90s heater. We know the Blue Jays want him to throw it more often; he knows the Blue Jays want him to throw it more often; the world knows it. But it doesn’t do much good to throw your ball fast more often if it’s not on the plate.
The problem is that Kikuchi’s command on Saturday was worse than even in his last two starts, both with four walks. The couple with their slowing down and warning flags are blinding.
“My body feels good. I feel very strong and healthy,” Kikuchi said. “I just think it’s something that’s maybe more mechanical or just something that’s within my craft that I need to fine-tune.”
Perhaps the best thing for him is a break. A list of injured ghosts to decompress, work on their adjustments away from the competition and return in a few weeks with a clearer head. The problem is that the Blue Jays need someone to pitch. The club has eight games next week. They are in a stretch of 18 for 17 days. They have a day off from now until the start of the stars ’break on July 18th.
And what are your alternatives? Thomas Hatch started for the triple A Buffalo Bison on Saturday and is in turn with Kikuchi. But provisionally, he plans to make his next outing for the Blue Jays during the team’s double game against the Tampa Bay Rays next weekend. Do the Blue Jays take him out of this task and place him at the Kikuchi rotation site?
That would probably mean asking Casey Lawrence for the double-header task. The 34-year-old isn’t outscoring anyone, but he has an effectiveness of 1.85 in 11 headlines for the Bison this season, and the Blue Jays value his strike pitch and reliability. Lawrence last pitched the Bison on Wednesday, so the Blue Jays could surely change their schedule to make it work.
Or the club could look to line up Max Castillo for the double-header day. He stretched with Buffalo earlier this month, but has since been throwing a massive relay from the Blue Jays bullpen, including four outstanding work innings on Saturday in which he only allowed one hit and two balls while in vain. put thirst.
“It was exceptional,” Montoyo said. “In his first outing against the Yankees, he was nervous …