98 MPH at the top end.
Sitting at 95 MPH comfortably.
And a lefty to boot!
Man, this guy is going to be fun to watch. Can he adjust to the line-ups and smaller, more offense conducive, ballparks of the AL East? Say so long to those SoCal nights, heavy marine layer, and deeper outfield fences, not to mention the excess of foul territory in which for friendly defenders to catch flies and record outs. Mr. 12-million-per is going to be facing a more difficult coarse in 2022. But, if you’ll remember, we said virtually all the same things about another Asian SP that rolled into town two seasons ago.
Minus the velo, Hyun-jin Ryu hit corners and messed up the timing of many a vaunted batting order in the junior circuit after he left the sweet and spacious not-so-confines of Dodger Stadium. And even though the hefty Korean seems to be running out of steam, as evidence to constantly needing more than four days between starting assignments, he still did a nice job adjusting to East Coast humidity, intensity, and those aforementioned SLG friendly ballparks. So…dot, dot, dot. I guess we’ll see.
Whether it’s arm slot or whatever, that 100 point bump in Kikuchi’s second half opponent-SLG is, um, concerning. Especially so when you remember that the Mariners were just out of shooting distance for a Wild Card spot last fall. His then-team needed him. But for whatever reason, he underperformed when the sniff of October should have put some wind in his sails. The Jays are pushing for post-season glory right bleeding now. It is easy to say that there is no room for guys that won’t be there when the ball needs to be taken in a critical series. In reality (which always tends to be less knee-jerk than the typical hot take) it takes all kinds to get over the finish line of 162. It quite literally takes arm upon arm, all of varying quality, to wrap up a division or even just to make it to the end of a long summer. As such, even if dude falters down the stretch, even if he tanks like he did in Seattle…meh, we’re just going to have to live with that risk and potential outcome. Let’s just say a certain hairless pitching guru is gonna be asked to work his magic one more time.
Pete!
Pete Walker!
Got another one for ya, fella.
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