Kikuchi and pitching coach Paul Davis will review video of the left-hander's poor start Saturday against the Athletics to ensure he wasn't tipping his pitches, John Hickey of MLB.com reports.
Kikuchi had the first legitimate blow-up of his nascent stateside career Saturday versus Oakland, getting chased after giving up five runs on 10 hits over 3.1 innings. Eight of the hits the Japanese southpaw surrendered came on breaking balls, so he and Davis will examine the video to see if Kikuchi was inadvertently providing the A's with an advantage. Kikuchi has otherwise utilized his off-speed pitches with considerable success during his first major-league season, allowing just a .274 wOBA when utilizing his curveball and generating a 37.2 percent strikeout rate with his slider.