Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi was pulled from the game after five innings on Tuesday, but his reason may surprise you.
Kikuchi had struck out seven batters and allowed just one run against the Yankees. But he was suffering from cramps so Toronto had to make a call to the bullpen for a reliever.
The Athletic reporter Kaitlyn McGrath reported that Kikuchi believes that his cramps may have flared up because he “only” got 11 hours of sleep instead of his typical routine, which is 13 or 14 hours per night.
Go ahead. Take a second and let that astonishing information sink in.
#BlueJays starter Yusei Kikuchi thinks he’ll be fine for his next start after he left the game with cramps. The biggest revelation was that he said it may have been caused by only getting 11 (!) hours of sleep last night instead of his usual 13 or 14 hours (!!)
— Kaitlyn McGrath (@kaitlyncmcgrath) September 20, 2023
Sure, there are quite a lot of impressive players in the MLB right now.
Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani struck out ten batters and hit two home runs on the same night. Atlanta Braves slugger Ronald Acuña became the first MLB player to ever hit 30 home runs and steal 60 bases in the same season. Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz is breaking records with his cannon of an arm.
But none of them are are well-rested as Kikuchi, who reportedly goes to bed at 11 p.m. and wakes up at 1 p.m. during his typical schedule. Plus, none of them have a curveball that looks this good:
Yusei Kikuchi, Nasty Curveballs.
5th and 6th Ks. pic.twitter.com/4MMGsAKoKY
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 20, 2023