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Blue Jays' Yusei Kikuchi blames neck cramp on 'only' getting 11 hours of sleep
Yusei Kikuchi could have a career as a marathon napper once his baseball days are done.
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi left Tuesday's 7-1 victory over the New York Yankees in the sixth inning with what the team called a left upper trap muscle cramp.
The early exit was unfortunate for the Japanese lefty, who had cruised through five innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts to that point. Kikuchi doesn't expect to miss a start, however, and thinks a poor night's sleep before Tuesday's outing may have contributed to his injury.
What is a poor night's sleep? A mere 11 hours, per Kikuchi.
"I only got 11 hours of sleep so maybe that’s affecting this cramping today," Kikuchi told reporters through his interpreter.
The 32-year-old added he typically goes to bed at 11:00 p.m. and wakes up around 1:00 p.m. the next afternoon for a whopping "13 or 14 hours," per The Athletic's Kaitlyn McGrath. Most people his age can only dream (pun intended) of that kind of slumber.
Kikuchi must be sleeping well before most of his starts because he's posted a career-best year in 2023. The veteran owns a 3.74 ERA over 30 games with a 1.24 WHIP. Those numbers are a far cry from his disastrous 2022 campaign in which he logged a 5.19 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and lost his spot in the starting rotation.
Toronto's bullpen locked things down after Kikuchi's departure on Tuesday, with Yimi Garcia, Trevor Richards, Jordan Hicks and Nate Pearson combining for four innings of scoreless relief.
Every victory is a huge one for the Blue Jays at this point of the season. The club is locked in an extremely tight American League wild-card race and currently only has a one-game cushion on its playoff spot.
The Blue Jays have won four consecutive games and continue their three-game series with the Yankees on Wednesday. Here's hoping Kikuchi caught up on his sleep so he can be a supportive teammate in the dugout.
