.

You say yes, I say no
You say stop and I say go go go, oh no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello

I say high, you say low
You say why and I say I don't know, oh no
You say goodbye and I say hello
(Hello goodbye hello goodbye) Hello hello
(Hello goodbye) I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
(Hello goodbye hello goodbye) Hello hello
(Hello goodbye) I don't know why you say goodbye
(Hello goodbye) I say hello/goodbye

Why why why why why why do you say goodbye goodbye, oh no?

You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello

You say yes (I say yes) I say no (But I may mean no)
You say stop (I can stay) and I say go go go (Till it's time to go), oh
Oh no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello hello

Hela heba helloa
Hela heba helloa, cha cha cha
Hela heba helloa, wooo
Hela heba helloa, hela
Hela heba helloa, cha cha cha
Hela heba helloa, wooo
Hela heba helloa, cha cah cah [fade out]

....

Thanks again for the patience homies.  The issue this winter has been the intersection of (1) very low energy - taking time off work and so forth - and (2) The Reptilian Puppet Masters using Jerry Dipoto as a test case as to how brazenly they can behave in public.  Tough to jump back into M's blogging when Jay Bruce is the topic du jour.  But like we say thanks for the patience.

There's only so much of that we can ask from youse, so we've decided on the compromise of a few mini-posts each week, steadily, until Spring Training hits.  Hopefully via the 80% / 20% rocket liftoff principle that will lead to some Hot Stove roundtables and the discussion stubs will push Dr. D back into bidness?  :- )

....

Q.  What are Dr. D's thoughts on Yusei Kikuchi?

A.  See the title.  

Kikuchi in fact rekindles Dr. D's interest in the 2019 Mariners to the point that he feels a little sheepish about bailing - it's that heavy a deal for him.  You remember as Paxton was coming up, the Mainframe was absolutely smug about Paxton's "chances" because of my pet axiom about 94 MPH lefties.

I ain't gonna go do it again, but go look up the ten hardest-throwing LHP starters at any given time, say now, and you'll find a huge flotilla of winners.  And the cutoff for velocity isn't 94-97 MPH; it's more like 92 MPH.

So here with Kikuchi you've got a legit 94-95 guy, hitting 98, with a Rich Hill slider.  Here, if you haven't seen this article, please indulge.  The .gifs are swoonworthy, and you get to see the "Hill" slider for yourself.

.....

It's almost laughable how similar he is to James Paxton -- except he's max-effort, actually the far other side of the spectrum as to the effort he needs to power up.  That's okay.  It's half the reason he wasn't chased as hard as Paxton (the other half being that Kikuchi is technically a prospect rather than a proven MLB dominator).

So, I'm smiling again.

Kikuchi is a buy, a very hard buy.  He's going to be on a ton of winning roto teams in 2019.

.....

On another level, I've got a Mariner jersey to thrill to again, at least until Kikuchi proves us wrong, which he won't.  Since 1989 there has always been one of those; I count a long, cold 52 days in which we suffered without.

.

Q.  Do the quibbles about Kikuchi bother you?  He's had two seasons messed up with shoulder pain, and like Paxton, he walks some people.

A.  All pitchers are health risks.  The Mariners know more than I do, and their assertion is "seven year contract."  For what that's worth.

The .gifs make his command look at least as good as Paxton's, and the careful Japanese hitters inflicted a BB rate upon Kikuchi that was no higher than the 2013-16 Paxton would probably have wound up with over there.

Here are his stats for your convenience.  When he was right he was a 1+ ERA man in NPB.

.

Q.  When Felix gets his head bashed in again and Elias or Sheffield steps in, that's 5 lefties.  Does having five left hand starters bother you?

A.  LOL.  Well, they'll find some way around five.  But how about another mini-stub...

.

Enjoy,

Dr D