Kikuchi fired five strong innings in an intrasquad game Wednesday afternoon, his final tune-up prior to a scheduled start in the second game of the regular season on March 21, Greg Johns of MLB.com repors.
Kikuchi battled strong gusts of wind that reached up to 30 mph, but he still managed to get quality work in after seeing his regularly scheduled Cactus League turn postponed by rain Tuesday. Kikuchi will ironically kick off his major-league regular-season career in his native Japan, where he'd spent the entirety of his professional career prior to signing with the Mariners this offseason.