Kikuchi, who endured an uneven first season stateside in 2019, worked on his mechanics throughout the offseason, Jesse Borek of MLB.com reports.
The southpaw generated a solid 3.43 ERA through his first 11 starts last season before running into more frequent difficulties that helped lead to a 5.46 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and 6-11 mark across 32 starts. Kikuchi went right to work as soon as the season ended, focusing on everything from hand placement to the timing of his entire delivery. Kikuchi will work closely with new pitching coach Pete Woodworth throughout the spring, and one of the goals both the team and Kikuchi have is to see a bump in the average velocity of his four-seam fastball, which checked in at a modest 92.5 mph in 2019.