Angels Activate Yusei Kikuchi After Minor League Rehab Stint Goes Up In Flames
MLB Trade Rumors tweeted: 'Angels To Activate Yusei Kikuchi Off 60-Day IL'
The are officially activating Yusei Kikuchi off the 60-day injured list, which is great news for his shoulder and potentially terrifying news for the team's run differential. MLB Trade Rumors relayed the move on Sunday, clearing the way for the veteran lefty to rejoin the rotation.
Kikuchi is scheduled to take the mound Sunday against the , marking his first major league action since late April. He spent the last few weeks on a minor-league rehab assignment that went about as well as a screen door on a submarine.
According to RotoWire, Kikuchi posted a 15.63 ERA and a 2.37 WHIP over 12.2 innings across four rehab starts. Giving up that much traffic to minor-league hitters is the kind of performance that usually ends with a guy considering a career in real estate, not getting handed a big-league baseball.
To be fair, the Angels are heavily invested in getting him right. Kikuchi is in the second season of a three-year, $63 million contract. He was an All-Star just last year, eating 178 innings and posting a 3.99 ERA before things went off the rails this spring.
The shoulder inflammation popped up after an April 29 start against the , pausing a rough 2026 campaign where he was already sitting on a 5.81 ERA. Kikuchi later blamed the issue on trying to pitch through a stomach bug in Kansas City, which led to him altering his mechanics and overcompensating.
Anyone looking at the betting board for Sunday's matchup in is absolutely staring a hole through the Rangers' team total. Fading a pitcher coming off a shoulder injury who just got shelled by teenagers is the kind of angle that makes sportsbooks nervous.
The desperately need the 2025 version of Kikuchi to eventually show up to justify that price tag. We will find out immediately if he was just working on his mechanics in the minors, or if the are about to turn his return into a track meet.