Category Archives: Commentary

Yusei Kikuchi vs Hawks, Aug. 24, 2018

This is the game of Aug. 24 in Fukuoka against the SoftBank Hawks. Clicking on individual players’ names will bring up their NPB English player pages.

1st inning:

  1. Kenta Imamiya
  2. Taisei Makihara
  3. Yurisbel Gracial
  4. Yuki Yanagita

2nd inning:

  1. Nobuhiro Matsuda
  2. Akira Nakamura
  3. Seiji Uebayashi
  4. Takuya Kai
  5. Tetsuro Nishida
  6. Kenta Imamiya

3rd inning:

  1. Taisei Makihara
  2. Yurisbel Gracial
  3. Yuki Yanagita
  4. Nobuhiro Matsuda
  5. Akira Nakamura
  6. Seiji Uebayashi

4th inning:

  1. Takuya Kai
  2. Tetsuro Nishida
  3. Kenta Imamiya

5th inning:

  1. Taisei Makihara
  2. Yurisbel Gracial
  3. Yuki Yanagita

6th inning

  1. Nobuhiro Matsuda
  2. Akira Nakamura
  3. Seiji Uebayashi

7th inning:

  1. Keizo Kawashima
  2. Tetsuro Nishida
  3. Kenta Imamiya

8th inning:

  1. Taisei Makihara
  2. Yurisbel Gracial
  3. Yuki Yanagita
  4. Nobuhiro Matsuda
  5. Akira Nakamura

Kikuchi leaves for U.S.

Seibu Lions left Yusei Kikuchi left Narita Airport outside Tokyo on Sunday, boarding a flight bound for the United States, where he hopes to conclude a contract with a major league team.

“I’m looking forward to this,” the 27-year-old told reporters. “After playing nine seasons for the Lions, I have this sensation that my time has finally come.”

“I want to enjoy every part of the process.”

Kikuchi has said he’s open to playing for any club, and this past week at baseball’s winter meetings, his agent, Scott Boras, described the interest in Kikuchi as “intense.”

“I want to prioritize those things that will enable me to perform my best,” he said.

According to Boras, Kikuchi has already undergone his physical and now will be working out and meeting with interested teams. He has until 5 pm Eastern Time on Jan. 2 to conclude a contract. If he fails to do that, Kikuchi will rejoin Seibu for the 2019 season.