MLB Trade Deadline Notebook: Contenders keeping eyes on Blue Jays
For teams interested in augmenting their rotations, Rogers Centre is a good place to spend the weekend.
TORONTO — The reality for the Toronto Blue Jays and Yusei Kikuchi is that their marriage will be coming to an end. It’s not an, “If,” it’s a, “When,” and with the trade deadline quickly approaching, the official split could come at any time.
That was the context looming over Kikuchi’s start on Saturday. It could very well have been his last in a Blue Jays uniform. He’s got one more scheduled start before July 30 but if he’s dealt before then, the left-hander will have departed on a flat note.
Kikuchi was dominant at times, but unravelled during the sixth inning as the Detroit Tigers earned a 7-3 win over the Blue Jays in front of 38,583 at Rogers Centre.
It was the Blue Jays’ second-straight loss and came on a day when the organization received discouraging news about the immediate future of shortstop Bo Bichette.
Kikuchi, who signed a three-year, $36-million contract in 2022, is set to become a free agent at season’s end. He could slot nicely into the rotation of a contending team and, as a result, figures to be the Blue Jays’ best shot at landing a strong return before the deadline.
The left-hander said his current situation has been weighing on his mind.
“I’m thinking about the deadline,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Yusuke Oshima. “But every start out there I tell myself, ‘I got to focus on the game. Got to focus on the game.’ But it’s in the back of your mind. It’s hard to not think about the deadline. It’s been tough but just got to go out there and do it.”
Saturday marked his second consecutive rough outing.
The 33-year-old left-hander racked up eight strikeouts over the first five frames, allowing just one run via Andy Ibanez’s run-scoring double down the left-field line. In the sixth inning, though, Kikuchi surrendered a lead-off single to Matt Vierling, walked Mark Canha and then hit Wenceel Perez to load the bases with none out.
Kikuchi was removed from the game and received a warm ovation from the crowd but was followed by right-hander Trevor Richards, who promptly allowed a grand slam to Jake Rogers that pushed the score to 5-0 and closed Kikuchi’s line.
In total, the left-hander allowed four runs on five hits over five-plus innings. He’s now given up 11 runs over his past two starts while his season ERA has ballooned to 4.54.
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“He had good stuff again, just kind of lost his command at the end a little bit with the walk, hit by pitch,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “Pitch count gets up there but I thought he was really, really good. It’s an aggressive team against him, much more so than they are, I think, against others, because he’s in the zone a lot. But I thought he made really good pitches.”
Kikuchi said he hasn’t had any conversations with the Blue Jays front office about its plans for him. And, if this was truly the end for the fan favourite from Japan, he offered a message to Blue Jays fans.
“Obviously I don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Kikuchi. “It’s out of my control. But if this was the last start, just want to say I love the team, I love the city, I love all the fans.
“Hopefully that’s not it, but yeah, that’s what I would like to say.”
On Saturday, a collection of Tigers pitchers mostly held down the Blue Jays offence with the exception of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who blasted a two-run homer off Kenta Maeda to straightaway centre in the sixth inning. It was his second homer in as many days and team-leading 16th on the season.
Another positive came from relievers Erik Swanson and Yimi Garcia, who each tossed an inning of scoreless relief after rejoining the team on Friday. (Swanson was recalled from triple-A, while Garcia was reinstated from the 15-day injured list.)
Garcia, who’s been out since mid-June with right elbow ulnar neuritis, is also a pending free agent and could be coveted by contenders searching for a leverage reliever.
“[Garcia] kind of looked like himself,” said Schneider. “Three strikeouts, good heater, curveball, sweeper, changeup. Didn’t really miss a beat. So, that was a bright spot today.”
Bichette, meanwhile, was placed on the 10-day injured list before the game. The shortstop underwent an MRI on Saturday morning that revealed he has a moderate right calf strain.
“[That’s] all we know right now,” said Schneider. “He’s going to miss multiple weeks and we’ll know more as we go.”
Bichette was removed from Friday’s contest after limping out of the batter’s box in the sixth inning. This marks the third time since June that he’s been sidelined by his bothersome right calf. Given that, and the club’s last-place position in the American League East, it stands to reason he won’t be back anytime soon.
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