Yusei Kikuchi Named to American League All-Star Team
This is Kikuchi’s first career MLB All-Star selection
SEATTLE, Wash. — Seattle Mariners left-handed pitcher Yusei Kikuchi has been selected to play for the American League in the 91st Major League Baseball All-Star Game presented by Mastercard on Tuesday, July 13 at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. Major League Baseball made the announcement today.
This is Kikuchi’s first career MLB All-Star selection. He is a 3-time All-Star in Nippon Professional Baseball, earning All-Star nods while pitching for the Saitama Seibu Lions in 2013, 2017 and 2018.
The 2021 American League and National League All-Star starters were announced on Thursday, July 1.
Kikuchi, 30, is 6–3 with a 3.18 ERA (33 ER, 93.1 IP) with 31 walks and 93 strikeouts in 15 starts for the Mariners this season. His 11 quality starts lead all American League left-handers and are tied with Clayton Kershaw-LAD for most in the Majors.
In his last 11 starts, Kikuchi is 6–2 with a 2.33 ERA (18 ER, 69.2 IP) with 22 walks and 73 strikeouts. He’s held opponents to a .173 batting average (42x243) in that span, lowest in the American League since April 29. In his last 4 starts since June 12, Kikuchi is 3–0 and leads the Majors with a 1.01 ERA (3 ER, 26.2 IP), walking 11 and striking out 24. In that span, he’s held opponents to a .157 average (14x89) while recording a 0.90 WHIP.
Kikuchi is the 14th Japanese-born player to be selected to participate in a Major League Baseball All-Star Game. He joins Ichiro Suzuki (10x), Yu Darvish (5x), Hideki Matsui (2x), Kazuhiro Sasaki (2x), Masahiro Tanaka (2x), Hideo Nomo, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Hideki Okajima, Takashi Saito, Kosuke Fukudome, Hisashi Iwakuma, Koji Uehara and Shohei Ohtani.
Of the 14 Japanese-born players to make a Major League All-Star roster, 5 have been in a Seattle uniform: Suzuki (10x), Sasaki (2x) and Kikuchi, Hasegawa and Iwakuma each once. Of the 30 total selections, exactly one-half (15) have been Mariners.
The 2021 MLB All-Star Game will be played at Coors Field on Tuesday, July 13 at 4:30 pm PT (5:30 pm MT). The 91st Midsummer Classic will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 180 countries. FOX Deportes will provide Spanish language coverage in the U.S., while ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.
