The newest reports reveal that Yusei Kikuchi was indeed the target of Hiromoto Okubo's abuse.  While Kikuchi was not named in the report that the Lions made public earlier today, someone with the club (perhaps a leak) made it known to the press.

It also seems that earlier reports of Okubo getting upset that a player snitched on his methods of punishing for tardiness were true: someone reported to the Lions' player's association that Okubo was handing out big fines to to tardy players.  The player's union then approached Okubo and ask him to stop.  Okubo assumed that it was Kikuchi that reported him and apparently became violent with him.  Exactly what he did was not released to the public.

4/23/2010 2:44am JST

Kikuchi has been doing a lot of running (8km, five days a week) in order to improve his conditioning and strengthen his lower body.  After his start on Wednesday, he ran twenty 400m sprints.  And it seems the Lions may no longer be thinking about Kikuchi pitching any Ichi-gun games this year, but rather next year.

Said Ni-gun pitching coach Ono, "He needs to build-up his trunk muscles.  The rest will have to come after that. ...  It'll take at least a year.  If he continues what he's doing right now, by the time summer ends, he'll be throwing a lot more differently."

4/22/2010 11:37am JST

Ni-gun pitching coach Kazuyoshi Ono told reporters that Kikuchi's upper body was moving vertically while his lower body was moving horizontally, creating an imbalance that wasn't allowing him to throw with any sort of velocity.

As of now, he'll likely start pitching regularly on 7-days of rest.

4/21/2010 3:14pm JST

Yusei Kikuchi started a Ni-gun game against the Futures on Wednesday.

Kikuchi topped out at 140km/h and lost the game 4-1.  His final line: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 SO, 4 R

===

1st inning

Takuya Sakamoto (YOK): fly out to left

Sumi Kota (LOT): single to left

Atsushi Fukumoto (YOM): single to left, runners on first and second

Takuma Sadaoka (LOT): 3-run homer

Takahiro Ijuin (YOM): reached on error (E6)

Yukinori Momiyama (YOM): grounder to short, double play

2nd inning

Masashi Yoshida (LOT): single to center

Genki Kawano (YOM): strikeout, Yoshida steals second

Masato Sugimoto (YOK): ground out to short, runner on second

Sakamoto: infield singer, runner on second scores

Kota: fly out to second

3rd inning

Fukumoto: ground out to second

Sadaoka: single to left

Ijuin: grounder to third, double play

4th inning

Momiyama: ground out to second

Yoshida: ground out to third

Kawano: walk

Sugimoto: fly out to right

5th inning

Sakamoto: ground out to first

Kota: ground out to firt

Fukumoto: fly out to right

=== 4/1/2010 10:00pm JST

Kikuchi threw a total 35 pitches, 19 of which were balls.  He apparently didn't throw a bullpen session a day prior to this start as he normally does after Kimiyasu Kudo suggested he try holding one bullpen session three days before his scheduled start.

Kikuchi's next outing will likely be during a practice game against Nippon Expression (Industrial League) on the 8th.

=== 3/31/2010 9:01pm JST

Yusei Kikuchi made a Ni-gun start against Yakult on Wednesday, his first official pro start of his career.

Over three innings of work, he did not give up any hits, but did give up a run (unearned).  He topped out at 135km/h (?!) and did not strike anyone out.

The papers seemed to be concerned about the fairly big drop in velocity, but Hisanobu Watanabe appeared to be satisfied with the outing, saying that Kikuchi was slowly coming around.

Kikuchi didn't appear too worried either, telling reporters that he was focusing on throwing strikes more than his velocity.

No word on when his next outing might be.

The results for each at bat:

1st inning

Munehiro Shida walked.

Shingo Kawabata hit a sac bunt, runner to second.

Yoshiyuki Noguchi flied out to left.

Yuichi Matsumoto grounded out to second.

2nd inning

Yusuke Kajimoto grounded out to short.

Yuhei Takai flied out o left.

Ryo Yoshimoto flied out to left.

3rd inning

Yuhei Nakamura walked.  A bad pick-off play allowed him to move all the way up to third.

Ryosuke Morioka grounded out to third.  Nakamura came around to score.

Shida flied out to left.

Kawabata grounded out to second.

=== 4:00pm JST

Sanspo is reporting that Kikuchi threw 33 pitches and that 9 of them were sliders (7 of which were balls).

=== 3/18/2010 1:47pm JST

Kikuchi topped out at 144km/h.

=== 3/17/2010 7:07pm JST

Yusei Kikuchi tossed two innings in relief in an Ikusei League game against the Yakult Swallows on Wednesday.  Kikuchi threw a total 32 pitches, gave up 2 hits and struck out one.

Inning recap (via Nikkan Sports):

8th Inning

Ryo Yoshimoto flied out to right.

Tomofumi Aso struck out swinging.

Genki Nitta singled to right.

Yuki Mizuno flied out to center.

9th Inning

Ryosuke Morioka grounded out to the pitcher.

Jun Matsui walked.

Tsuyoshi Ueda singled to right.

Maike Magario lined out to second.

=== 3/12/2010 1:32am JST

Daisuke Matsuzaka gave Kikuchi three main tips:

1. When pitching out of the set position, the lower body becomes very important.
2. Don't over-think, do what comes natural.
3. Have fun while pitching.

=== 3/11/2010 1:50am JST

Kikuchi threw 22 pitches from the set position, 15 of which went for balls (31 pitches and 8 balls using his normal no wind-up delivery)  And it was the during the fourth pitch to Kenji Yano in the 2nd inning that he balked.

=== 8:33pm JST

Pitching from the set position, Kikuchi threw his fastball in the 130km/h range.  Hisanobu Watanabe said that based on what he knows of Kikuchi, he might be ready for Ichi-gun some time in May or June.

=== 8:06pm JST

Despite it being a weekday, with snow outside, with temps at about 2 degrees Celsius, 3,743 fans were in attendance at Tuesday's game.

=== 3/10/2010 1:50pm JST

Some comments from Yomiuri Giant players:

Taishi Ohta via Sanspo: He looked confident out there.

Itaru Hashimoto via Sponichi (faced Kikuchi in 2008): I think he had a better fastball in high school.  His slider was also breaking a little early and didn't have a lot of velocity.

Ken Kato via Sponichi: I only saw two pitches so I can't say much, but they did get a lot of the plate.

Daisuke Fujimura via Sponichi: His pitches didn't seem very lively.  His fastball wasn't as good as I thought it would be, and his slider didn't have a lot of bit.

=== 11:29pm JST

Looks like Yusei Kikuchi already has something to start working on until his next start.  Seems he had some trouble pitching out of the set position (decrease in velocity / movement and accuracy).  And while it was fairly chilly, Kikuchi also said that he didn't want to use cold as an excuse for his sub-par outing.

=== 3/9/2010 3:08pm JST

Yusei Kikuchi started an Ikusei League game against the Yomiuri Giants on Tuesday, March 9, 2010.  It was his first "pro" start.  Kikuchi went 2 innings while giving up 3 runs on 3 hits and and 3 walks.  He threw a total 54 pitches and topped out at 144km/h.  Kikuchi also balked in the second inning.

Sanspo has some pictures from the game.

Inning recap (via Nikkan Sports)

1st Inning

Itaru Hashimoto single to center.  Thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.  The first pitch was a fastball clocked at 135km/h.  He threw a total 11 pitches to Hashimoto.

Daisuke Fujimura grounded out to short.

Taishi Ohta grounded out to short on the third pitch.

2nd Inning

Ryuichi Kajimae grounded out to short.

Masakuni Odajima singled to left.

Kenji Yano walked.  Runners on first and second, 1 out.

Hiroki Nakazawa walked to load the bases.

Ken Kato hit a 2-run single into left.  Odajima and Yano scored.

Takahiro Suzuki walked to re-load the bases.

Hashimoto hit a sac fly to center.  Nakazawa scored.

Fujimura grounded out to second.

The Lions held a press conference to introduce their 2009 draft prospects on Wednesday.

Yusei Kikuchi - #17
Masaru Misawa - #4
Toshihiro Iwao - #12
Mitsugu Ishikawa - #53
Kenta Matsushita - #35
Yosuke Okamoto - #30

Hisanobu Watanabe once again said that he wanted to take it slowly with Kikuchi and that he wanted him to focus on building up his body.

NikkanSports is carrying a list of stats for rookie pitchers and a list of rookie pitchers that recorded double digit wins in their first year.

Over 200 members of the media showed up for the Lions press conference.  And there were over 10 TV cameras lined up to record the event.

And Kikuchi Q&A during the press conference (via Sponichi):

Your thoughts right now...

I managed to join a team with a lot of tradition.  I feel a great deal of responsibility to put up results that match the expectations.

On the number 17...

It's a number that supports the ace.  I just want to help out the pitching staff, the team, in whatever way that I can.

Your strengths...

More than just fastballs and off-speed pitches, I take pride in my attitude towards baseball.  I think that's my strength.  I want to be tough and push myself forward.

Matsuzaka said he wanted to win 200 games when he joined the Lions...

I don't think I'm a pitcher that can win 200 games.  I first need to think about building up my body.  In the end, I do want to become a pitcher like Matsuzaka.

Things you've asked Kimiyasu Kudo...

I want to throw for as long as I can, so I asked him what I should do in order to accomplish that.

On the very first pitch you'll throw as a pro...

I still can't imagine myself making that first pitch yet.  I'll think about that once I get to that level.

I also caught a brief interview News Zero (NTV) just ran on their show where he was asked what his 1 year, 5 year, and 10 year goals were.  For his first year goal, Kikuchi said he just wanted to make the Ichi-gun roster.  He then said he wanted to attain double-digit wins by his third year and be a fixture in the rotation and win 15 games by his 5th year.  In his 10th year, he wanted to be pitching at the WBC.

=== UPDATE 12/10/2009 10:44am JST

Not an overly important update, but Sponichi reports there were 232 reporters at the press conference yesterday (not quite the 268 that Matsuzaka drew back in 1998).

The Seibu Lions have decided that they will hold Yusei Kikuchi's press conferences on 12/9.

They will be renting out a hall in a hotel room that can seat about 800 people.  The club believes they'll need more than the 300 seats that were necessary for Daisuke Matsuzaka's press conference.

In other Kikuchi news...

JTB will likely offer a tour package that will allow Kikuchi fans to go to Spring camp to watch him practice.  This past summer, JTB offered a tour package for watching Koshien games that ended up being very popular because of Kikuchi.  They feel that there will be as much, if not more, interest in tour packages that involve being able to watch Kikuchi at Spring camp and during the regular season.

As mentioned before, the Lions will take it slowly with Yusei Kikuchi.  And now it seems that part 2 of that plan will entail bringing Kikuchi into a game out of the bullpen, instead of as a starter.

"Unless he's really putting up some numbers, [his debut] likely won't be as a starter.  But we'll take a look at him and then make a decision," said Hisanobu Watanabe.

A few updates on Yusei Kikuchi: (1, 2, 3)

...Kikuchi's father was relieved that everything is now finally set.  Said his father, "I'm relieved it's beeen decided now.  He's a country boy, please watch over him."

...The negotiations lasted about 3 hours.

...Daisuke Matsuzaka will be keeping a close eye on Kikuchi.  "I've heard he's enthusiastic about learning new things and has got a solid head on his shoulders.  He's a player I want to keep checking up on," said Matsuzaka.

He also added, "There's no reason for him to try and go overboard to prove himself.  If he's got what it takes, people around him will see it.  He just needs to stick to his ways and do things on his own pace."

...Kikuchi picked the number 17 for a number of reasons.  One was because it's his birthday (6/17/1991).  He also wore the number 17 when his team made it to the Koshien during his first year.  Another reason is because it's close to the number 18 (reserved for the staff ace).

And some interview questions (via Sanspo):

What are you thinking right now?

It's been 10 years since I first started playing baseball.  I'm happy that I'll now have a chance to realize my dreams.  But I'm still at the beginning.  I need to put up results in a competitive environment.

Your goals for your first season?

There are a lot of expectations, but I'm still new at this.  I need to strengthen my body and my spirit so that I can make it to Ichi-gun as soon as possible.

The number 17?

I was born on June 17th.  Plus it was the first number I wore when I got to Koshien.  Having a number in the teens requires a lot of responsibility.  It means having to become a reliable piece of the rotation.  I just hope that I can get close to becoming an ace.

It snowed a lot...

It was just a coincidence that it snowed today.  I'd like to try and win as many games.

Your ideal pitcher...

I don't really have any.  I just want to become the type of pitcher kids want to become.  The kind of pitcher that people talk about.

What will you be working on?

I can only really throw a fastball, so I want to increase the number of off-speed pitches I can throw.  I want to improve my game quickly so that I can compete.

Any regrets about the US?

Absolutely none.

Sponichi carried a couple of other questions and answers that I've provided down below:

Which is stronger right now: worries or confidence?

Of course I have some worries, and I'm at 50-50 with expectations.  The only way to get rid of my worries is to practice.  I plan on going home and practicing after this.

You'll have a chance to face Nakamura during camp...

I'd like to see how effective my fastball is against him.  I don't think for one minute that my fastball will be good enough to get him out.  I want to work on building up my body as much as possible in time for camp.

The Seibu Lions offered 1st round draft pick Yusei Kikuchi a contract worth 15M yen and a signing bonus of 100M yen, plus 50M yen in incentives.  His uniform number will be 17.

"I'm happy to have a chance to realize my dreams," Said Kikuchi. " I want to become the type of pitcher kids look up to and everyone talks about.  There will be a lot of responsibility for wearing the number 17, but I'll do my best to become as close to an ace as possible."