Astros' quick 'fix' of Yusei Kikuchi says a lot about Blue Jays' coaching staff

When the Toronto Blue Jays traded starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, everyone knew that the deal looked like a thorough fleecing of the Houston Astros. The Blue Jays got back an impressive return for Kikuchi in the July 29 trade, bringing in three intriguing players: right-hander Jake Bloss, outfielder Joey Loperfido and infielder Will Wagner

Bloss is now Toronto's No. 3 MLB Pipeline prospect, and Wagner is No. 21. Loperfido already graduated from prospect status, but the highly-touted outfielder was Houston's No. 6 at the time.

The return for a two-month rental of a 33-year-old pitcher with who took a 4.75 ERA with him to Houston seemed steep. But after Kikuchi’s first two starts with the Astros, it looks like they may have evened the deal by "fixing" the former Jays hurler.

Astros' quick 'fix' of Yusei Kikuchi says a lot about Blue Jays' coaching staff

What does fixing Kikuchi look like, exactly?

In his first start, he gave up two runs on three hits over 5 2/3 innings while posting 11 strikeouts. In his second start, he went 5 1/3, giving up two runs on four hits and striking out eight. That's a 3.27 ERA and 15.55 K/9 in two outings with his new team. In 22 starts with the Blue Jays this season, Kikuchi had eight or more strikeouts just five times for a 10.12 K/9.

Granted, he did walk three batters in each of his first two starts as an Astro, but you can get away with that when running such a high strikeout rate.

What did the Blue Jays' coaching staff miss with the lefty?

There were a couple of things the Astros had the sixth-year MLB player do in his first, 11-strikeout start. After that Aug. 2 outing, Kikuchi told the Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara that the coaching staff encouraged him to use his changeup (subscription required).

Throwing the offspeed offering 26.3 percent in the start led to a dominant performance against a familiar foe in the Tampa Bay Rays. That's a higher usage than he ever came close to in Toronto.

He only threw it 10.9 percent of the time with the Jays. What were the Blue Jays' coaches and analytics staff looking at?

It's a real head-scratcher.

Opposing hitters had a .193 average and a 31.9 percent whiff rate against the changeup in 22 Toronto starts. Why didn't he use it more? It's not like this is some deeply hidden analytics secret, you can find it yourself on Kikuchi's Baseball Savant page.

Yes, the Blue Jays obviously dropped the ball not having Kikuchi throw his changeup more — although he used it less in his second Astros start.

But wait, there's more.

Astros have changed how Kikuchi uses his fastball and slider

On top of throwing the changeup more, he used his four-seam fastball less but adjusted how he used it. Instead of going up the ladder to left-handed hitters with the heater, he went down and away to the outside corner, a wildly different approach than he executed in Toronto, per Just Baseball's Chap Cunningham.

As Cunningham points out, it was a small sample size against just one left-handed batter. But he did it again in his second start against the Texas Rangers, throwing 17 four-seamers to left-handed batters, most of them down and away.

But wait, there's more.

Kikuchi also used his slider more in both Houston starts, 31.6 percent and 34 percent. His high in Toronto was 25 percent, which he hit twice. Not only did he use the pitch more, but he used it more effectively. He garnered a .125 average against and a 60 percent whiff rate against the Rays and then a .000 average against and a 27.8 percent whiff rate against the Rangers.

From all of this, it's apparent that someone in the Blue Jays organization wasn't paying attention. From Kikuchi's early results, these changes make it look like the Jays' coaching staff failed him and wasted his abilities in Toronto, at least this season.

There's no guarantee that Houston's multiple fixes will last. As Blue Jays fans know, Kikuchi can be the Jekyll and Hyde of starting pitchers. While the trade looks like an overpay, if Houston continues helping him maximize his stuff, there's a good chance we'll be able to watch him pitch in the postseason.