The Angels are getting a rotation piece back down the stretch. Yusei Kikuchi is being activated off the 60-day injured list, ending a saga that started with shoulder inflammation back in late April and swallowed up almost the entire summer.
Kikuchi first landed on the IL on May 3 with left shoulder inflammation, then got shifted to the 60-day list on May 22 once it became clear this wasn't a quick fix. He spent the following months rehabbing, eventually working his way through three rehab starts split between Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and Triple-A Salt Lake, results that were ugly on the scoreboard but encouraging under the hood — his fastball was clocking back up around 95.5 mph in his last tune-up.
This isn't a low-stakes flier for the Angels. Kikuchi signed a 3-year, $63 million deal ahead of the 2025 season and is currently pulling down $21 million annually through 2027, so getting him healthy and effective matters well beyond this one start.
Before the shoulder shut him down, Kikuchi's surface numbers were rough — 7 starts, 31 innings, a 5.81 ERA. But the underlying stuff never really left him: opponents were hitting an inflated.352 on balls in play against him, while his strikeout rate (23.2%) and walk rate (9.9%) stayed roughly in line with his solid 2025 season. In other words, the peripherals suggest this is still the same pitcher, just running into some bad luck before he got hurt.
The timing works out for Los Angeles. Angels starters rank 17th in MLB with a 4.31 ERA as a group, and beyond Reid Detmers the rotation has been shaky, with arms like Grayson Rodriguez and Jack Kochanowicz struggling to hold down spots. If Kikuchi pitches anywhere near his real talent level the rest of the way, he slots in as a legitimate No. 2 starter and gives the Angels a much steadier group to close out the season.