Seattle Mariners rookie Yusei Kikuchi credited his nine pro seasons in Japan for his growth as a pitcher, as the left-hander winds up to make his second major league start and first in the United States, against the Boston Red Sox on Friday.Kikuchi had been watched by major league scouts since his hard-throwing days at Iwate Prefecture's Hanamaki Higashi High School but opted to spend the first part of his career learning the fundamentals of the sport in Nippon Professional Baseball with the Seibu Lions."If I begin with my conclusion, I think it was good to play in Japan," Kikuchi told Kyod…READ FULL ARTICLE
