TEMPE, Ariz. — When Ron Washington casually mentioned Thursday morning that left-hander Yusei Kikuchi was going to be the Angels’ Opening Day starter, he didn’t seem to think that was much of a revelation.
Washington, in fact, said he hadn’t even told Kikuchi.
“It’s obvious,” the Angels manager said. “We just signed him to a big contract. We didn’t bring him here to be our No. 4 or No. 5. We didn’t bring him here to be No. 3 or No. 2. We brought him here to lead our staff. That’s the obvious part.”
Kikuchi signed a three-year, $63-million deal, the largest free-agent deal for an Angels pitcher since C.J. Wilson in 2011. He joins a staff with relatively unproven young pitchers and veterans on the back side of their careers.
Even though he’s got a career 4.57 ERA and he’s never been an Opening Day starter in the big leagues, the Angels see more than that in him. Kikuchi said the Angels told him in January to prepare himself for Opening Day.
“Very happy and honored,” Kikuchi said through his interpreter. “I’m hoping that we can just get off to a good start, starting from Game 1.”
Kikuchi and the Angels will have the opportunity to get off to a good start with a series starting March 27 against the Chicago White Sox, who lost 121 games last season.
Although it wasn’t a surprise that Kikuchi got the Opening Day nod, a case could have been made for José Soriano, who is the Angels’ best young pitcher, or veteran Tyler Anderson, who was an All-Star last season.
Washington likes Kikuchi, 33, because of his stuff and also his leadership. Kikuchi’s English is good enough for him to be a positive influence with the young pitchers with his words.
“Obviously, it’s my seventh year now in the bigs,” Kikuchi said. “I’ve been around, so I would like to help out in any way I can for the young guys, but I have a routine, so I hope guys can take notice of like what I do in order to prepare for games and stuff like that.”
Kikuchi also said he likes to host a few team dinners each year.
“I think that’s better than video games or cards,” Kikuchi said. “You grow closer and connect better that way.”
Leadership aside, what the Angels need most from Kikuchi is for him to be a good pitcher.
Last season, Kikuchi had a 4.05 ERA in 32 starts with the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros. The eye-opening portion of that was his 2.70 ERA in 10 starts after the trade to Houston. Kikuchi struck out a 10.6 hitters per nine innings last season, including 11.4 with Houston.
“What really helped was using the backdoor slider more,” Kikuchi said. “It’s something I always had, but I just wasn’t using it and with the Houston Astros, they helped me figure that out again. I’d like to use that more this year.”
Kikuchi said his slider and his curve have been good this spring. He’s the only pitcher who did the equivalent of two innings in live batting practice so far. He’s pushing himself in workouts, and delaying his work in Cactus League games. Kikuchi won’t pitch until the second time through the rotation in exhibition games. Then he’ll start with at least five days’ rest, instead of four. He is still expected to work with a normal four days’ rest during the season.
“Two years ago, we had a plan about going my pace, taking it slow, because if I throw too much and I ramp up too quickly, it’s not good for my shoulder and elbow,” Kikuchi said.
NOTES
Washington said all of his regulars will get into spring training games within the first few days after they start Saturday. Mike Trout’s debut will be Monday, a home game against the San Francisco Giants. …
Washington said he’s encouraged by shortstop Zach Neto’s progress in his rehab from shoulder surgery. “He’s an animal,” Washington said. “I think if we decided to let him play right now, he’ll go out there and try to play. That’s who he is. So we’ve just got to keep our eye on him and keep monitoring him. Everybody here has heard he’s ahead of schedule, but we have to keep his mind on schedule.” Neto still can’t make full-length throws across the infield, but he can hit. …
Third baseman Yoán Moncada is a couple days behind the other position players because of what Washington called some “soreness.”