Yusei Kikuchi was traded from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Houston Astros in the latest MLB deal, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Yusei? You don’t say it.

The Houston Astros, a team competing for an eighth straight American League Championship Series but plagued by injuries to its starting pitchers, signed 33-year-old Yusei Kikuchi from the Toronto Blue Jays in a trade completed on the eve of the MLB trade deadline.

On Monday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the trade that would send pitcher Jake Bloss, outfielder/first baseman Joey Loperfido and minor league infielder Will Wagner, the son of Astros great Billy Wagner.

The Astros have yet to confirm the deal.

The news came after the Astros ruled Bloss out of their start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Relief pitcher Tayler Scott got the last-minute start.

Passan noted the Stros needed to take a step forward following injuries to starting pitchers Justin Verlander, Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy, the latter two of whom are out for the season. Houston also saw American League West rival Seattle bolster its offense with the acquisitions of Randy Arozorena and Justin Turner, Kikuchi’s teammate from Toronto.

Learn more about Yusei Kikuchi

Kikuchi has five seasons of MLB service time, but 13 years of overall professional baseball experience dating back to 2011 in his native Japan.

Kikuchi attended the same high school that Shohei Ohtani would later enroll in, the LA Times reported.

The Japanese-born star broke into the major leagues when he signed a four-year contract with the Seattle Mariners in 2019. He started 32 games that season and was named an All-Star in 2021, going 6-4 in the first half of that season.

Kikuchi has been with the Blue Jays since signing a three-year, $36 million contract in 2022. The Astros last faced Kikuchi on July 3 when he struck out five but allowed two runs, including a single-game home run by Yordan Alvarez in Toronto.

Also, here are some fun facts: The Blue Jays play an audio cue for every Kikuchi strikeout – the “You say” portion of Lisa Loeb’s 1994 hit, “Stay.”

Kikuchi also said Sports Illustrated that he aims to sleep 13 or 14 hours the night before a planned departure.

“My teammates asked me how I slept so much,” he said through an interpreter. “But honestly, if you close your eyes, I feel like you should be able to sleep.”

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