Today is the 1-year Anniversary of Toronto Blue Jays SP Yusei Kikuchi's new curveball that has blossomed his already solid MLB career.
MLB TRADE RUMORS
The One-Year Anniversary Of Yusei Kikuchi's (New) Curveball
#Toronto #TOTHECORE
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Kikuchi is having a wonderful season for the Blue Jays accumulating a 3.66 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 66.1 innings pitched. His last two starts were his worst of the season, but from how he has thrown the ball with precision and break, those starts will most likely just be outliers to a great year.
One year ago today, he made a decision that not many pitchers try and do, he developed and added a new harder and sharper curveball to his arsenal.
"The new breaker is a harder, sharper curveball that sits 83 mph with 43.5 inches of vertical break and 4.4 inches of horizontal break". - Rob Friedman
Kikuchi's Curve wasn't that effective, but this year is a whole new story. He throws the pitch almost 1/3 of the time and basically has batters fooled every time. Opposing batters are only hitting .258/.290/.318 in 69 plate appearances.
Yusei Kikuchi, Dirty 84mph Curveball. 😨
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Happy Anniversary Yusei Kikuchi!
Source: MLB Trade Rumors - The One-Year Anniversary Of Yusei Kikuchi's (New) Curveball
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