Three stars of Seattle Mariners 6-1 Week 9
Star #1: Yusei Kikuchi
2 starts, 2 wins, 2 quality starts, 7 hits allowed, 3 earned runs, and 8 Ks in 12.2 innings pitched.
Yusei Kikuchi continues to establish himself as the Mariners de facto ace of the rotation. Since April 29, he’s had six consecutive quality starts (at least 6 innings pitched with 3 or fewer earned runs given up). This week, he did it two more times in wins against Oakland and Texas. Each by an identical 4-2 score.
The veteran lefty still has lapses in control, leading to more walks than the M’s would like. However, Kikuchi is getting much more efficient. His 70.2 strike percentage on Sunday was the best since his first start of the season.
Since back-to-back outings with giving up 5 runs each ballooned his ERA to a season-high 5.70 on April 23, he’s gone 3-2 with a 2.76 ERA over 6 starts. This represents the best six-start span of his career. His improvement is coming at a time when the Mariners continue to work out offensive issues.
Ace material?
In a recent article, my Pacific Northwest Sports colleague, Chris Phillips, raised the question of whether Kikuchi is the Mariners’ ace or not. Looking at the rest of the rotation, Marco Gonzalez is due back on Tuesday. Hopefully returns to his 2020 form. Justin Dunn leads the starters in ERA, while Chris Flexen has a 5-2 record. That leaves Logan Gilbert and Justus Sheffield to continue their paths of improvement after rough starts.
Is Kikuchi the ace of the Mariners? He’s definitely been the most dominant at times. While it might be too soon to anoint anyone as the ace of the Mariners, the magic 8-ball says “signs point to yes.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtQoxnLwY64
Joe Swenson is a lifelong Seattle Sports fan, award-winning playwright, director, producer, and author of the Young Adult book series, The Ten Letters trilogy. Book two of the trilogy is due out in October 2021.