CLEARWATER, Fla. — As far as Toronto Blue Jays Spring Training storylines go, the progression of Yusei Kikuchi is about as juicy as it gets. That's a good thing in a sense, as it speaks to the fact the club has gone through a largely quiet camp to this point with a roster that's pretty much set.
The left-hander, who will likely fill the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation this season, took the mound against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday in what was his fourth start this spring. He wasn't particularly efficient, loading the bases twice while allowing four hits and three walks over 2.2 scoreless innings. However, he did strike out four batters and generated 14 whiffs on 61 pitches.
In spring training, the pitching line only tells part of the story.
"I thought he was outstanding today," said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. "Really pitching with conviction. All of his stuff was really good."
Schneider lauded Kikuchi's fastball, which topped out at 95.6 mph and accounted for half of his pitches.
Kikuchi said he's derived confidence from the reactions he's seeing from hitters so far this spring — different reactions than he was getting last season.
He was particularly happy with his changeup during his first three Grapefruit League starts and, on Sunday, felt content with his fastball.
He registered a first-pitch strike to nine out of the 16 batters he faced and said that has been a focus.
"I think getting the strike in the first pitch is the most important thing," Kikuchi said through interpreter Keito Ebino. "And I think I'm able to do that right now. So, I'm satisfied with that."
Belt out of bed
Brandon Belt did not play Sunday, one day after getting into his first Grapefruit League action of the spring. He drew a walk in his first plate appearance and smoked a double to left-centre field in his next trip to the plate during that Saturday contest against the Baltimore Orioles.
“Right out of bed,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “It was great to see.”
Belt, who signed a one-year, $9.3-million deal with Blue Jays in January after spending his entire 12-year career with the San Francisco Giants, has been easing into things this spring following knee surgery.
“It feels good to be back on the baseball field and playing competitive [games],” Belt said on Saturday. “I’ve been doing a lot of stuff on the back fields just trying to get in shape. It’s nice to get out there with the guys and do something.”
The 34-year-old figures to spend most of his time this season as a designated hitter and could also get some reps at first base. The Blue Jays acquired him for his left-handed bat that contains serious pop — he slugged 29 homers in 97 games in 2021 and owns a .356 career on-base percentage and 123 OPS-plus.
He said he doesn’t need many spring training at-bats to get ready for the season.
“Early on in my career, I wanted to come into spring training ready to go — a lot of times you're fighting for a job,” said Belt. “Now, I’ve learned that less is more for me. If I can get a couple of weeks in of at-bats, I feel like I’m going to [be good] at that point.
“If I'm going out there and I feel like I'm really seeing the ball and I'm not guessing and doing stuff like that, that's kind of my cue that I'm ready to go,” he added.
Schneider said the plan is to likely have Belt in the lineup every other day for the time being with the hope that he can get to the point where he plays in consecutive games before the club leaves camp.
Bassitt on baseball discussions
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman recently said he was impressed that veteran right-hander Chris Bassitt has carved out time to watch the bullpen sessions and starts of other pitchers in the rotation.
While that is the case, Bassitt says that at this point in the spring, he’s more inclined to observe rather than talk. There will be better opportunities for that as the season unfolds.
He shared his thoughts with Sportsnet:
“Yes, we've had baseball discussions, but I would say that it's really hard to have baseball discussions now. I don't really care about talking about the past, because you can't really change much with it. I mean, you might be able to learn some things, but for the most part, I like to think the past is the past, let's think of the future. So, to me, I like watching today's game. I go watch it, watch the pitcher and just talk about that and what makes him best going forward.
“Like watching [Alek] Manoah [on Wednesday], I don't ever talk about all the good things you did. You might have done 100 good things, I don't care about them. These top guys, they know. They don't need pats on the back. They know all the good things they've done. So, we might talk about the two things that I thought Manoah did not do good yesterday. That kind of thing. I'll talk to him about that. And ‘Why did you do that,’ or, ‘Just tell me your thought process on this.’ ‘What you were thinking in the moment.’ And so, if he has a good answer, then it’s good. But if he doesn't, then it's like, ‘Alright let's fix that for the future.'
“It's hard to have these conversations when a guy only throws three innings. But if a guy throws seven, eight innings, it’s a lot easier. And obviously, after watching more and more games, it’s a lot easier to really understand how he likes to pitch.”
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