9/18: Home Away from Home G/T

[D-train]

3

[Petert]

Have to admit, would love to see Kikuchi uncork 95 at the ump.

...or at Machado, just on principle.

[Juliooooo]

Machado golfed that one out of here. Pitch was about a foot below his knees.

[Petert]

What to do with this guy. What to do...?

[Juliooooo]

The thing thats frustrating about Kikuchi, is he has the stuff, just can't be consistent with it. Was a little unlucky that inning with the guy who threw his bat at it for the hit, then Machado hitting it out on what wasn't a bad pitch, but with all his walks it turned into 4 runs instead of 1 or 2. Its obvious there is something missing mentally and when things start to go wrong, they spiral.

[D-train]

The thing thats frustrating about Kikuchi, is he has the stuff, just can't be consistent with it. Was a little unlucky that inning with the guy who threw his bat at it for the hit, then Machado hitting it out on what wasn't a bad pitch, but with all his walks it turned into 4 runs instead of 1 or 2. Its obvious there is something missing mentally and when things start to go wrong, they spiral.

Yep he is Altavilla. Why do you defend him so......

[Juliooooo]

The thing thats frustrating about Kikuchi, is he has the stuff, just can't be consistent with it. Was a little unlucky that inning with the guy who threw his bat at it for the hit, then Machado hitting it out on what wasn't a bad pitch, but with all his walks it turned into 4 runs instead of 1 or 2. Its obvious there is something missing mentally and when things start to go wrong, they spiral.

Yep he is Altavilla. Why do you defend him so......

I'm just hopeful. He'll be around and I think he's had his moments this year. I gave Altavilla 2-3 seasons before I gave up on him.

[TraderGary]

I'm not ready to give up on KK. His stuff is much better this year, and he's got the arsenal to be pretty effective. I think it's all mental at this point. Can they get him straightened out? That remains to be seen, but the potential exists. Next year will be the key for him.

[Juliooooo]

I'm not ready to give up on KK. His stuff is much better this year, and he's got the arsenal to be pretty effective. I think it's all mental at this point. Can they get him straightened out? That remains to be seen, but the potential exists. Next year will be the key for him.

Yeah, I think he's much better than Altavilla. Altavilla throws hard and has a decent slider, but as far as overall stuff goes, Kikuchi is much better.

[Petert]

I'm not ready to give up on KK. His stuff is much better this year, and he's got the arsenal to be pretty effective. I think it's all mental at this point. Can they get him straightened out? That remains to be seen, but the potential exists. Next year will be the key for him.

He’s got VG stuff, but as Julioooo pointed out out, either it deserts him when he needs it, or he loses focus on the zone when facing RH hitters under pressure. I would think the coaching staff would take this into consideration and try to work him through these issues. So, I’m starting to wonder if he’s coachable and no one’s willing to say he isn’t.