Ex-Blue Jays starter somehow earns a vote in this year's AL Cy Young race

All throughout the 2024 season, there was never a doubt that Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers was going to run away with the AL Cy Young Award come season's end. Sure enough, the left-hander unanimously took home the hardware, beating out the likes of Seth Lugo of the Kansas City Royals and Emmanuel Clase of the Cleveland Guardians.

Way down at the bottom of the ballot, a familiar face to followers of the Toronto Blue Jays finished ninth after earning one fifth-place vote from a writer out of Kansas City: Yusei Kikuchi.

The left-hander wrapped up a two-and-a-half year stint on the Blue Jays at this year's trade deadline when he was sent from Toronto to the Houston Astros in exchange for three prospects. Prior to the trade, Kikuchi was 4-9 with a 4.75 ERA and 85 ERA+, but his season really took off in Houston.

While Kikuchi's 5-1 run with a 2.70 ERA and 147 ERA+ through 10 post-trade starts is nice to look at, this hardly screams Cy Young contender. Especially when you pair them with his numbers from the Blue Jays days. To end the year, he finished this 32-start season with a 4.05 ERA, 3.46 ERA and 99 ERA+, which puts him one percent below league-average. Not to be too picky, but finishing below league-average and still earning a Cy Young vote is a bit confusing.

Kikuchi remains a durable pitcher who is guaranteed to take the mound every fifth day, which has a ton of value in today's game. However, he was "just okay" for the first half of the year, and it's hard to justify voting for him as one of the game's very best pitchers when he didn't hit the gas until he joined the Astros.

In his defense, the six-year veteran finished third in the AL in K/9, eighth in FIP and ninth in fWAR, so his inclusion on the ballot isn't completely out of left field. He also had the eighth-highest HR/9 rate, though, which is ... not great.

A reunion between the Blue Jays and Kikuchi would be a great fit on both sides this offseason, even if he didn't fully need to make his way onto the Cy Young ballot. The Blue Jays need starting pitching in the worst way, so re-upping with a pitcher they're extremely familiar with - and one who discovered a new level to his game once he joined the Astros - makes a ton of sense.