Yusei Kikuchi and Domingo German weren’t guaranteed spots in their rotations when they arrived at spring training, but they’ve shown they belong so far this season.
Kikuchi is scheduled to take the mound for the visiting Toronto Blue Jays and German will do the same for the New York Yankees when the teams open a three-game series on Friday night.
Kikuchi (2-0, 4.70 ERA) is coming off a 5-2 victory against the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, holding them to one run and four hits in six innings. It was one of Kikuchi’s best performances in his two seasons with the Blue Jays.
His other win came in his season debut on April 4, when he held the host Kansas City Royals to one run and three hits in five innings during a 4-1 victory.
“He’s got a different way about him this year than he has in the past,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “With the work he put in and the spring he had, it’s just carried over a bit. He’s confident. A confident pitcher is a dangerous thing. That’s what he is right now.”
Kikuchi won the battle for the No. 5 spot in the rotation by posting 31 strikeouts and a 0.87 ERA over 20 2/3 innings this spring.
“He’s got great stuff and he’s a competitor,” Toronto catcher Danny Jansen said. “Last year, nobody held themselves to a higher standard than himself. You can tell he worked his butt off all offseason and in spring. Now, early in the season, he’s been electric.”
Kikuchi is 2-3 with a 4.07 ERA in 10 career appearances against the Yankees, including eight starts.
German (1-1, 3.86 ERA) also had to perform well in the spring to make the rotation, and like Kikuchi, is also coming off his best outing so far this season.
The 30-year-old right-hander limited the Minnesota Twins to one run and three hits over 6 1/3 innings on Saturday in a 6-1 victory. German took a perfect game into the sixth inning before finishing with 11 strikeouts and no walks.
“Good life to his fastball and he used it, but he had a really good curveball going, too,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
German is 2-4 with a 3.72 ERA in seven career appearances against the Blue Jays, including five starts.
The Yankees have won four of their past five games, most recently knocking off the visiting Los Angeles Angels 9-3 on Thursday afternoon.
New York has limited the opposition to 11 runs in the past five games.
Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo reached base in all five of his plate appearances on Thursday and enters the weekend riding a seven-game hitting streak (11-for-25, .440).
The Blue Jays took two of three from the Rays last weekend but dropped two of three against the Houston Astros earlier this week.
Toronto outfielder Whit Merrifield enters the series riding a seven-game hitting streak, going 11-for-27 (.407) in that span.
Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 1-for-12 in the three games against Houston after entering the series hitting .387.
–Field Level Media
