TOKOROZAWA, SAITAMA PREF. ¨C Yusei Kikuchi has put last year behind him. All the wins, the career numbers and accolades, firmly in the rearview mirror. His brush with the Sawamura Award, now just a fond memory.
¡°Last year was last year, and this year is this year,¡± Kikuchi told The Japan Times in a suite high above the field at Seibu¡¯s MetLife Dome on Saturday afternoon. ¡°I think it¡¯s important to make that distinction because winning is not guaranteed. So I¡¯ve been practicing over the offseason in order to have better numbers.¡±
The Lions ace is entering his eighth NPB season. He¡¯ll make his third straight opening day start when the Lions face the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on Friday at Sapporo Dome. The left-hander¡¯s career had an up-and-down start before his first double-digit win season in 2016. That turned out to be merely the warm-up for a 2017 that was off the charts.
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