4 years agoSeattle Mariners starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi delivered a quality start on Friday night against the San Francisco Giants, throwing six innings and allowing three runs on six hits and one walk with a career-high ten strikeouts. Kikuchi was regularly hitting 97 MPH with his fastball, and staying ahead in counts, with 19 first-pitch strikes to his 25 batters. He also had a spin rate averaging 2,415 RPM on his fastball, a significant improvement over his career rate of 2,111 RPM. All in all, it was a dominant showing for Kikuchi, who unfortunately did give up two home runs to Evan Longoria and Buster Posey. Kikuchi has been lauded all offseason for his excellent Statcast numbers, and it looks like the results are starting to match. Kikuchi is an add in most fantasy formats.--Doug Goldring - RotoBaller
Source: Daniel Kramer