Yusei Kikuchi with interpreter Yusuke Oshima at the Rogers Centre on June 29.Mark Blinch/The Globe and Mail
Half an hour before Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi was expected to warm up ahead of a game against visiting Atlanta in May, he hit a road block. Literally.
Kikuchi was scheduled to start that day, and had driven in on his usual route on the Gardiner Expressway. For reasons that will be explained later, he exited onto Yonge Street toward the Rogers Centre. Except this was the morning of a Toronto road race. It’s a day each year on which tens of thousands of runners shut down the downtown core, bringing road traffic to a grinding halt – including, on that morning, Kikuchi.
The first person Kikuchi called wasn’t one of his coaches or trainers. It was his newly hired interpreter, Yusuke Oshima. Within minutes, Oshima set off from the Rogers Centre on foot, to try to find Kikuchi.
Officially, the job Oshima was hired for in April was to help the Japanese-born-and-raised Kikuchi with language translation. Kikuchi speaks conversational English, but when it comes to high-stakes interactions – talks with his teammates and coaches that require precision and nuance, where the smallest mix-up can mean the difference between winning and losing – he relies on the Toronto-born Oshima. If Kikuchi is Tom Selleck’s Mr. Baseball, then Oshima is his real-life Yoji.
But unofficially, Oshima’s job includes helping Kikuchi navigate off the field, too. The pitcher has been in Toronto for little more than a year. So from sunup until sundown, Oshima is glued to his side. He’s part cultural-liaison, part personal assistant, part local navigator – an extra set of eyes and ears for the pitcher as he makes his way around a new city and culture.
“I smooth things over. Make sure he’s comfortable,” Oshima says. “Make sure he’s good to go every fifth day when he pitches.”
Yusei Kikuchi walks the field with Yusuke Oshima at the Rogers Centre on June 29.Mark Blinch/The Globe and Mail
On any given day, this can range from dealing with English-speaking contractors at Kikuchi’s house, co-ordinating with his son’s school, or scheduling Kikuchi’s medical appointments. He even does Kikuchi’s wife’s banking.
“During the season, it’s really important for me to concentrate on baseball only,” Kikuchi said through a separate interpreter hired by The Globe and Mail. “I don’t need any other stress.”
Case in point: The morning of the running race. After Oshima was dispatched from the Rogers Centre, the plan was to find Kikuchi’s car on foot, freeing up the pitcher to jog over to the stadium. So Oshima ran around downtown, texting ‘where are you?’ every few minutes.
But then his phone died.
By the time he finally powered up again, Kikuchi had already made his way to the stadium.
Kikuchi recounted this from the dugout at Roger’s Centre one recent afternoon, as Oshima sat next to him, glum-faced. The usually stoic pitcher was dissolving into giggles.
“And then,” he said – gleefully – “everybody had to go look for Yusuke.”
Yusei Kikuchi works out as Yusuke Oshima looks on at the Rogers Centre on June 29.Mark Blinch/The Globe and Mail
Oshima may be a new hire, but the two already speak with the easy familiarity of siblings. Kikuchi is two years older, and razzes Oshima like a kid brother.
He hired Oshima, he said, because he seemed trustworthy, smart, and easy to be around.
“I have to spend a lot of time with him – more than with my own family,” Kikuchi said. “So it’s fun to joke around with him.”
Oshima interjected to correct the second interpreter.
“Make fun of,” he said. “He said fun to make fun of.”
Just three months ago, Oshima was working as a sixth-grade teacher in Markham, Ont. Born to Japanese immigrant parents in Toronto, he’d grown up obsessed with baseball – playing the game as a kid, and following both the U.S. and Japanese leagues. He kept up with the game as an adult, working as an assistant coach for the University of Toronto team.
So in late March, when he heard the Jays were looking to hire an interpreter for Kikuchi (whose previous long-time interpreter moved back to Japan), he applied immediately.
He was called for an interview, and then another, and then another. After about a week, he was invited to a video conference with general manager Ross Atkins, along with Kikuchi himself. A few days after that, he was invited to come to the clubhouse. He’d been hired.
“I thought, ‘Oh my god, this is a dream come true.’”
Mark Blinch/The Globe and Mail
For Kikuchi, it was a good time for a reset as well. When the former Mariner first joined the Jays last year on a three-year, US$36-million contract, it was with some fanfare. He was another star added to a glittering rotation, which already included the recently acquired Kevin Gausman and José Berríos. But that first year was, by all accounts – including his own – a disaster. He produced a dismal 5.19 earned-run average over 100 innings, and was relegated to the bullpen by the end of the season.
So this year, he committed to a fresh start. He’s been working to build confidence. He’s stopped using social media. He’s even got a new look, sporting, in recent weeks, a scruffy new beard.
“Last year, I felt disappointed,” Kikuchi said through a translator. “This year, I want to be in really good form. I want to make sure we win.” He came back during spring training looking like a new player, and this season has posted a 4.24 ERA.
He won’t say whether his new sidekick has anything to do with it. It’s important, he said, for both of them to remain humble.
Which brings us back to the morning of the running race that contributed to clogged Toronto streets. Oshima swears that he had warned Kikuchi ahead of time of the road closures.
But whether it was Oshima’s fault, Kikuchi’s fault, or simply lost in translation, depends on who you ask.
“I told him to get off at Spadina,” said Oshima, taking off his ball cap and rubbing his forehead. Talking about it still stresses him out.
Kikuchi looks dubious. He’s asked if it was Oshima’s fault.
The pitcher looks up and answers in English for the first time.
“Oh yeah,” he said, nodding furiously.
“One hundred per cent. One hundred per cent.”
With reporting assistance from Aki Takabatake
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported the Blue Jays were playing Pittsburgh on the day of the Toronto Marathon. This version has been updated.
Yusei Kikuchi and Yusuke Oshima at the Rogers Centre on June 29.Mark Blinch/The Globe and Mail