Yusei Kikuchi, Seattle Mariners.
Every Monday for the entire season (26 weeks) we will produce the Seattle Mariners three stars of the week and a few honorable mentions. The goal is to spark conversation and please feel free to put your three stars in the comments either on this website or on the page where you found it. This is an opinion-based article and there are several right choices for the top three. Let’s see if we match up.
Week 1 stat line – .300 average, 1.162 OPS, 1 HR, 3 hits.
Ty France could very well have been the third star of the series for his strong offensive performance. He leads the Mariners in slugging and is second on the team in OPS. I wouldn’t be surprised to see quite a few comments that include France as one of the weekend’s three stars.
While he hasn’t started the season on the tear he was on in September of 2020, Dylan Moore came through in the clutch. His four RBI lead the team and he’s the only Seattle Mariners player with a stolen base.
Week 1 stat line – .615 On Base Percentage, .949 OPS, 6 walks in 13 plate appearances
Jake Fraley is one of the reasons the Mariners won on opening day as. He concluded the game with his third walk of the day, which resulted in bringing home a run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Throw in a hit-by-pitch and a double, and Fraley has been on base eight times so far this season, one more than France.
Week 1 stat line – .231 average, .615 OPS, 2 doubles, 3 runs scored, 2 RBI.
There will be some that look at his north of .200 batting average and think that it is a huge win for Evan White. This is why some fans, rightfully, will select White over perhaps Haniger or the others listed here to be the third star. His 3 strikeouts in 13 at-bats are an encouraging sign.
Week 1 stat line – .308 average, .953 OPS, 1 HR, 4 hits.
There were quite a few options to put in this spot (see honorable mentions). M’s hope is that this isn’t the last time we see Mitch Haniger as one of our three stars. He led the Mariners in at-bats, hits, and average. Haniger also is tied for the team lead in home runs, runs scored, and is third in OPS for the week.
He is coming off of a fantastic spring where he turned it on towards the end. and that momentum has spilled over into the regular season. There were signs the pre-injury version of Mitch Haniger is back. He also made a spectacular catch along the foul line in right field in Saturday Night’s game. The next day, his home run was absolutely smashed into the Mariners bullpen.
Week 1 stat line – 5 innings pitched, 0 earned runs, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts.
Chris Flexen struggled at the beginning of spring training, but his efforts towards the end of spring (back-to-back outings without giving up a run) created momentum that has carried into the regular season. Flexen lacked the efficiency that Kikuchi displayed but still got the job done in 94 pitches.
He faced 20 batters in the Mariners 4-0 win over the Giants on Saturday. He gave up four hits in his 5 innings of work, but the most encouraging aspect of Flexen’s outing was that he only gave up two hits in 10 at-bats to lefties.
Although the scoresheet looks favorably on Flexen, it could have been worse. He was behind or even in the count to all but four of the hitters he faced. The results make him a Mariners number two star for the week, but the results could’ve just as easily gone the other way.
One of just two right-handed pitchers in the Mariner’s six-man rotation, it’s imperative that Flexen is effective every time he takes the mound. His next projected start is Sunday, April 11th against the Twins and former Angel and Blue Jay Matt Shoemaker.
Week 1 stat line – 6 innings pitched, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 HRs, 10 strikeouts.
The Mariners would eventually lose the game 6-3, but it wasn’t due to Yusei Kikuchi’s performance. The hard-throwing lefty threw a gem and really had only two mistakes. Buster Posey in the third inning and Evan Longoria in the sixth inning.
He gave up two long-balls after only giving up three in all nine starts of 2020. For Mariner’s fans though, this is a good sign. If Kikuchi can duplicate this effort going forward, then he’s going to win more games than he loses.
Strangely there isn’t much chatter about Kikuchi’s performance, even though he tied his career-high with ten punchouts. He also flashed much better control in the game issuing just one base on balls over the 25 opposing hitters he faced. An indicator to show his improvement is 25 batters is three more than his career average. He also only fell behind three batters and one of them was the walk.
Overall it was a very encouraging outing for Kikuchi. His next projected start is Saturday, April 10th against the Twins and former Seattle Mariners prospect Michael Pineda.
Joe Swenson is a lifelong Seattle sports fan and owner, producer, director, and award-winning writer for Broken Arts Entertainment (www.brokenartsentertainment.com). He’s also the co-host of In The Clutch available on YouTube.