Blue Jays excited about what Kikuchi can bring out of bullpen

The Blue Jays have moved Yusei Kikuchi to the bullpen and think he can have a big impact in the new role.

Video Transcript

- John, we saw you see Yusei Kikuchi sitting in the bullpen for the game. Have you made a decision there and is Mitch White gonna start on Saturday?

- Yeah, he's gonna-- Yusei is gonna pitch out of the bullpen for now. And Mitch will start on Saturday. And we think that he can be definitely very useful in that role going forward. And you know, looking forward to getting him into some good spots.

- Is that [? whole-- ?]

- It could be a variety of things. I mean, it could be against left-handed pitching. It could be for some length. But I mean, we're talking about a guy with an electric arm.

And the improvements, although you can't really see them on paper, you know, I get that part of it. But incrementally, he's been a lot better. So we're excited about it. And you know, he strikes a lot of guys out and he has electric stuff. So when put in the right position, I think he can really help us.

- What was the conversation like with Yusei about the new role?

- It was great. You know, he was open-- he's open to anything. He's, you know, been battling all year, obviously. And understands that-- not understands but wants to be a big part of this team going forward and contribute any way he can. So the conversation was great. His attitude is great. And he was looking for positives for it. And we're looking forward to seeing him come in-- come in out of the pen.