Tag: Yusei Kikuchi

Blue Jays’ Yusei Kikuchi accidentally tackled Tyler Soderstrom on a pop fly and MLB fans had so many jokes

Who says baseball isn’t a contact sport?

If anybody tries to claim that baseball isn’t a contact sport, all you have to do is show them some Yusei Kikuchi tackling highlights. You’ll win that argument.

Among the many issues at the Oakland Athletics’ home field of Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum is that there is a preposterous amount of foul territory. So, you’ll actually find players hanging out at the edge of the dugout and bullpen in order to catch a glimpse of the action on the field.

Even with that in mind, though, I’m not exactly sure what Kikuchi was doing with Davis Schneider up in the 10th inning.

Schneider hit a pop up down the first base line into foul territory, and as Oakland’s Tyler Soderstrom tracked the ball for what should have been a routine catch, he was de-cleated by Kikuchi.

Kikuchi seemingly panicked when he saw the pop up heading in his direction. But rather than staying put in the bench area, he elected to run forward onto the field and accidentally collided with Soderstrom.

Schneider was called out on the play due to Kikuchi’s obstruction. But that didn’t stop MLB fans from making jokes about the tackle.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

Keep that head on a swivel when Yusei is around.

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Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi averages ’13 or 14 hours’ of sleep per night and it’s so inspirational

This man is a hero.

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.

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: