Kikuchi allowed two earned runs on two hits over three innings in the Mariners' 8-0 Cactus League loss to the Royals on Saturday. He struck out three.
The prized offseason acquisition has been impressive through his first two appearances, even as he gave up his first two earned runs this spring against the Royals. The left-hander was perfect through his first two frames Saturday and struck out two in the first inning. Kikuchi is still naturally in the early stages of adjusting to the majors after a successful career in Japan, and he's already tweaked his pregame routine in an attempt to make it more abbreviated. Moreover, Owen Perkins of MLB.com reports that Kikuchi is actively taking mental notes of in-game adjustments that he'll need to make in order to be successful stateside. "All my pitches are feeling really good," Kikuchi said, speaking through an interpreter. "I need to be a little more fine with my two-strike pitches, because I've noticed if it's too much in the zone that they're going to take advantage of that, so that's the next thing I'm going to work on."