Concerning

What's wrong with Kikuchi?  He's pitching more and more like Corey Gearrin.  Hit-hit-walk-another hit, multiple runs scored.  This is not the same guy we saw at the beginning of the season.  His sharp drop off has to have an explanation.  More importantly, if this Mariners team is to become the one Jerry DiPoto is reimagining, Kikuchi needs to be a solid dependable starter.

Ruling out an injury, my guess is one of three, or a combination of them, explains Yusei's recent shaky starts.

Possibility 1:  loss of confidence.  He began the season well, then come May, he started to see big league hitting.  These guys are good, some are great.  Every line-up has it Mike Trouts or Khris Davis or a bunch of other guys who are great hitters.  This is not the Japanese League, which plays good baseball but not of the quality of US MLB.  He looks tentative on the mound.  His pitches are getting hit and hit hard.  He has major league stuff, but he has to throw it every pitch.  He just looks hittable these day.

Possibility 2:  the mystery is gone.  Batters are figuring him out and they're learning how to hit him.

If the first two possibilities are true, then adjustments must be made and I hold Servais and Davis, along with hIs two catchers, Narvaez and Murphy accountable.  Those guys are calling pitches, they need to take care Kikuchi throws the right pitch at the right time.  And they need to keep his confidence up.  Lately he looks discouraged.

Possibility 3:  He's not prepared.  I'm always suspicious when a pitcher struggles with the first two or three batters.  That tells me his head and/or arm is not ready.  And because I've seen him settle down after he makes a poor start I'm starting to think he needs to do a little extra warming up and reviewing the opponents' line up before throwing his first pitch.

I had written most of this when I heard Shannon Drayer discuss the same topic on John Clayton’s broadcast.  Her theory is a good one: he gets behind too early on too many batters.  Batting averages against Kikuchi when he had two strikes on them is .225.  When he's behind in the count with two balls on the batter? One hundred points higher, .325.

An old lesson needs to be relearned: throw strikes.