Yusei Kikuchi’s injury struggles could resurrect a familiar Angels obstacle

It feels like a lifetime ago now, but just last year, Yusei Kikuchi justified the Los Angeles Angels' investment, earning his first trip to the All-Star Game in his debut season with the club. He wound up finishing campaign with a 3.99 ERA over 178.1 innings, emerging as the de facto ace of the staff after signing a three-year, $63 million contract in free agency.

Unfortunately, Murphy's Law has applied to him in 2026. Making it just seven starts into the 2026 season, the 35-year-old southpaw recorded a 5.81 ERA before landing on the shelf with left shoulder inflammation in late April. He's been out ever since, though he did start a rehab assignment at the end of July.

The problem is that isn't going terribly well, either. Over his first four rehab starts (split between Single-A and Triple-A), Kikuchi has given up 22 earned runs in just 12.2 innings, including his most recent outing in which Low-A batters blasted him for eight runs in less than five frames. The poor results have forced the Angels to reconsider what his return timeline should look like.

And beyond just the rest of this season, further struggles from Kikuchi might result in some seismic consequences for the organization ahead of the upcoming lockout.

Angels' history with big pitcher contracts puts pressure on Yusei Kikuchi to perform after rehab assignment

Prior to the Kikuchi deal, the Angels had gone an extended period of time between big pitcher contracts. The biggest ones -- given to Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson -- were handed out within the span of one season, after which point Arte Moreno seemingly became allergic to investing serious money in arms.

To an extent, that hesitation has been understandable. Weaver began his five-year extension with a dominant 2012 season, nearly winning the AL Cy Young Award, but then slowly eroded over the life of his deal. By the end of it, he was worth -0.7 WAR while allowing an AL-worst 37 home runs in 2016.

Meanwhile, Wilson also began his contract with an All-Star campaign, only to succumb to shoulder injuries in the final years of his deal (he didn't pitch at all in the last season). After those two contracts were inked prior to the 2012 season, the Halos went 12 years before signing Kikuchi.

Thus, it's fair to fear that furher injuries and implosions from Kikuchi could send the franchise spiraling back into their shells. One would hope John Mozeliak (or whoever takes over permanently for Perry Minasian) would have the freedom to invest in quality arms, but this isn't unprecedented territory.

Luckily, Kikuchi's numbers prior to his injury were actually far better than they looked, hence his 3.66 FIP compared to the aforementioned 5.81 ERA. His rehab assignment is going rather poorly, but if he returns to Anaheim looking like his 2025 self, perhaps these concerns can be thrown away as a relic of the past.

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