Who Should I Trade?

AJ Blubaugh for Yusei Kikuchi (2026)

Summary
Stats
Projections
News & Notes
Schedule

Who Should I Trade? Player Summaries
	Experts' Pick
	Yusei Kikuchi SP - LAA	AJ Blubaugh SP,RP - HOU
Expert Recommendation	75% Recommended by 3 of 4 experts	25% Recommended by 1 of 4 experts
Rankings

Rest of Season	# 171	# 309
VBR	# 424	# 599

Projections

Strikeouts	38	21
Wins	2	1
Saves	0	0
ERA	4.32	4.32
WHIP	1.39	1.38

Misc

Injury Alert	IL60	-

Expert Ranks

Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports	# 160	‐

Mike Maher BettingPros	# 154	‐

Kelly Kirby FantasyPros	# 221	# 396

Kevin Spinelli KevScores	# 230	# 228

Who Should I Trade? Player Statistics
	Yusei Kikuchi SP - LAA	AJ Blubaugh SP,RP - HOU
2026 Stats


Games Played	7	37

Games Started	7	0

Innings Pitched	31.0	62.0

Wins	0	4

Losses	3	2

Saves	0	0

Blown Saves	0	0

Holds	0	5

Hits Allowed	35	47

Earned Runs	20	25

Home Runs Allowed	3	7

Strikeouts	33	63

Walks	14	31

ERA	5.81	3.63

WHIP	1.58	1.26

Who Should I Trade? Player Projections
	Yusei Kikuchi SP - LAA	AJ Blubaugh SP,RP - HOU
2026 Projections


Games Played	7	24

Games Started	7	0

Innings Pitched	36.7	21.7

Wins	2	1

Losses	2	1

Saves	0	0

Blown Saves	0	0

Holds	0	4

Hits Allowed	36	20

Earned Runs	18	10

Home Runs Allowed	6	3

Strikeouts	38	21

Walks	14	9

ERA	4.32	4.32

WHIP	1.39	1.38

Who Should I Trade? Player Notes
	Yusei Kikuchi SP - LAA	AJ Blubaugh SP,RP - HOU
News
	Yusei Kikuchi recently began his throwing program and has progressed to playing catch. Nicholas Rodriguez Mon, Jun 22nd	The Astros are reportedly drawing trade interest in AJ Blubaugh. Ari Koslow Thu, Jul 2nd
	The Angels transferred Yusei Kikuchi to the 60-day injured list. Ari Koslow Fri, May 22nd
	Yusei Kikuchi said he hopes to start his throwing program soon to return sometime in the early part of the second half. Ari Koslow Wed, May 20th
	Yusei Kikuchi will be shut down for the next 3 to 4 weeks due to left shoulder inflammation, according to Angels' manager Kurt Suzuki. Diego Sandoval Tue, May 5th
	Former Los Angeles Times writer, Mike DiGiovanna reported that sources have told him Yusei Kikuchi (shoulder) is “gonna be out for several months, if not the whole season.” Ari Koslow Tue, May 5th
Notes
There are no recent notes for these players

Who Should I Trade? Player Schedules
Date	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR
	Yusei Kikuchi SP - LAA			AJ Blubaugh SP,RP - HOU
Thu, Mar 26th	@ HOU	Hunter Brown (1-1)	#22	vs LAA	Jose Soriano (8-6)	#47
Fri, Mar 27th	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#181	vs LAA	Yusei Kikuchi (0-3)	#141
Sat, Mar 28th	@ HOU	Cristian Javier (0-1)	#214	vs LAA	Reid Detmers (3-6)	#43
Sun, Mar 29th	@ HOU	Tatsuya Imai (5-4)	#135	vs LAA	Jack Kochanowicz (2-5)
Mon, Mar 30th	@ CHC	Edward Cabrera (5-4)	#97	vs BOS	Ranger Suarez (4-3)	#29
Tue, Mar 31st	@ CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-5)	#101	vs BOS	Brayan Bello (2-6)	#142
Wed, Apr 1st	@ CHC	Matthew Boyd (6-1)	#37	vs BOS	Garrett Crochet (3-3)	#64
Fri, Apr 3rd	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (7-6)	#13	@ ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-9)	#171
Sat, Apr 4th	vs SEA	Emerson Hancock (6-4)	#93	@ ATH	Luis Morales (0-2)	#383
Sun, Apr 5th	vs SEA	Luis Castillo (3-8)	#67	@ ATH	Jacob Lopez (4-4)	#229
Mon, Apr 6th	vs ATL	Chris Sale (10-6)	#6	@ COL	Ryan Feltner (3-4)	#432
Tue, Apr 7th	vs ATL	Reynaldo Lopez (4-2)	#91	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (2-9)	#237
Wed, Apr 8th	vs ATL	Grant Holmes (6-4)	#151	@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#428
Fri, Apr 10th	@ CIN	Chase Burns (11-1)	#23	@ SEA	Emerson Hancock (6-4)	#93
Sat, Apr 11th	@ CIN	Brandon Williamson (2-3)	#423	@ SEA	Luis Castillo (3-8)	#67
Sun, Apr 12th	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#102	@ SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-6)	#11
Mon, Apr 13th	@ NYY	Will Warren (7-4)	#65	@ SEA	George Kirby (8-8)	#21
Tue, Apr 14th	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (3-7)	#56	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#428
Wed, Apr 15th	@ NYY	Luis Gil (1-2)	#308	vs COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#431
Thu, Apr 16th	@ NYY	Max Fried (4-3)	#24	vs COL	Juan Mejia
Fri, Apr 17th	vs SD	Matt Waldron (1-2)	#264	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (7-4)	#119
Sat, Apr 18th	vs SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#360	vs STL	Andre Pallante (10-6)	#132
Sun, Apr 19th	vs SD	Michael King (6-7)	#50	vs STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-6)	#109
Mon, Apr 20th	vs TOR	Dylan Cease (6-5)	#9	@ CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-6)	#111
Tue, Apr 21st	vs TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)	#244	@ CLE	Parker Messick (8-5)	#40
Wed, Apr 22nd	vs TOR	Eric Lauer (4-5)	#300	@ CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-9)	#46
Fri, Apr 24th	@ KC	Noah Cameron (5-8)	#79	vs NYY	Will Warren (7-4)	#65
Sat, Apr 25th	@ KC	Cole Ragans (1-4)		vs NYY	Ryan Weathers (3-7)	#56
Sun, Apr 26th	@ KC	Seth Lugo (3-6)	#140	vs NYY	Luis Gil (1-2)	#308
Tue, Apr 28th	@ CWS	Davis Martin (9-5)	#94	@ BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#70
Thu, Apr 30th				@ BAL	Brandon Young (8-2)	#131
Fri, May 1st	vs NYM	Christian Scott (3-1)	#62	@ BOS	Jake Bennett (5-3)	#133
Sat, May 2nd	vs NYM	Nolan McLean (7-6)	#31	@ BOS	Connelly Early (7-5)	#138
Sun, May 3rd	vs NYM	Clay Holmes (4-4)	#110	@ BOS	Ranger Suarez (4-3)	#29
Mon, May 4th	vs CWS	Davis Martin (9-5)	#94	vs LAD	Yoshinobu Yamamoto (10-6)	#12
Tue, May 5th	vs CWS	Erick Fedde (5-6)	#404	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1
Wed, May 6th	vs CWS	Noah Schultz (3-6)	#210	vs LAD	Tyler Glasnow (3-0)	#75
Fri, May 8th	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (6-5)	#9	@ CIN	Nick Lodolo (3-2)	#98
Sat, May 9th	@ TOR	Trey Yesavage (4-5)	#83	@ CIN	Chase Burns (11-1)	#23
Sun, May 10th	@ TOR	Spencer Miles (4-2)	#100	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#102
Mon, May 11th	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-5)	#74	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-8)	#21
Tue, May 12th	@ CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-6)	#111	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (7-6)	#13
Wed, May 13th	@ CLE	Parker Messick (8-5)	#40	vs SEA	Bryce Miller (4-4)	#38
Thu, May 14th				vs SEA	Luis Castillo (3-8)	#67
Fri, May 15th	vs LAD	Will Klein (3-4)	#223	vs TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#134
Sat, May 16th	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (10-2)	#78	vs TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#8
Sun, May 17th	vs LAD	Roki Sasaki (3-5)	#117	vs TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (9-8)	#17
Mon, May 18th	vs ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#143	@ MIN	Kendry Rojas (1-1)	#235
Tue, May 19th	vs ATH	Jacob Lopez (4-4)	#229	@ MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-7)	#108
Wed, May 20th	vs ATH	Aaron Civale (5-7)	#239	@ MIN	Joe Ryan (6-6)	#14
Fri, May 22nd	vs TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#8	@ CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-5)	#101
Sat, May 23rd	vs TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (9-8)	#17	@ CHC	Colin Rea (7-6)	#195
Sun, May 24th	vs TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-8)	#35	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (6-8)	#27
Mon, May 25th				@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (2-8)	#92
Tue, May 26th	@ DET	Keider Montero (6-5)	#160	@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#134
Wed, May 27th	@ DET	Casey Mize (4-6)	#39	@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#8
Thu, May 28th	@ DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#54	@ TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (9-8)	#17
Fri, May 29th	@ TB	Nick Martinez (9-2)	#104	vs MIL	Coleman Crow (0-1)	#248
Sat, May 30th	@ TB	Drew Rasmussen (7-5)	#18	vs MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-4)	#124
Sun, May 31st	@ TB	Shane McClanahan (8-6)	#34	vs MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (10-4)	#7
Tue, Jun 2nd	vs COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (9-4)	#433	vs PIT	Bubba Chandler (3-8)	#123
Wed, Jun 3rd	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#428	vs PIT	Paul Skenes (9-8)	#3
Thu, Jun 4th				vs PIT	Jared Jones (2-1)	#49
Fri, Jun 5th	@ LAD	Roki Sasaki (3-5)	#117	vs ATH	Jack Perkins (2-5)	#107
Sat, Jun 6th	@ LAD	Yoshinobu Yamamoto (10-6)	#12	vs ATH	Kade Morris (0-1)	#378
Sun, Jun 7th	@ LAD	Emmet Sheehan (4-7)	#36	vs ATH	Gage Jump (3-5)	#90
Mon, Jun 8th	vs HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#154	@ LAA	Grayson Rodriguez (3-3)	#105
Tue, Jun 9th	vs HOU	Kai-Wei Teng (4-6)	#240	@ LAA	Walbert Urena (5-7)	#265
Wed, Jun 10th	vs HOU	Peter Lambert (8-5)	#136	@ LAA	Reid Detmers (3-6)	#43
Fri, Jun 12th	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (8-6)	#34	@ KC	Luinder Avila (4-3)	#295
Sat, Jun 13th	vs TB	Griffin Jax (5-7)	#61	@ KC	Noah Cameron (5-8)	#79
Sun, Jun 14th	vs TB	Casey Legumina		@ KC	Stephen Kolek (4-3)	#226
Mon, Jun 15th	@ ARI	Ryne Nelson (3-5)	#208	vs DET	Drew Anderson	#99
Tue, Jun 16th	@ ARI	Merrill Kelly (7-8)	#115	vs DET	Framber Valdez (5-6)	#28
Wed, Jun 17th	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (8-3)	#112	vs DET	Casey Mize (4-6)	#39
Fri, Jun 19th	@ ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-9)	#171	vs CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-9)	#46
Sat, Jun 20th	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#143	vs CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-5)	#74
Sun, Jun 21st	@ ATH	Jack Perkins (2-5)	#107	vs CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-6)	#111
Mon, Jun 22nd	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (6-9)	#41	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (6-5)	#9
Tue, Jun 23rd	vs BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#70	@ TOR	Shane Bieber (1-1)	#80
Wed, Jun 24th	vs BAL	Trey Gibson (1-3)	#307	@ TOR	Trey Yesavage (4-5)	#83
Thu, Jun 25th				@ DET	Troy Melton (5-1)	#96
Fri, Jun 26th	vs ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#143	@ DET	Keider Montero (6-5)	#160
Sat, Jun 27th	vs ATH	Jack Perkins (2-5)	#107	@ DET	Framber Valdez (5-6)	#28
Sun, Jun 28th	vs ATH	Aaron Civale (5-7)	#239	@ DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#54
Mon, Jun 29th	@ SEA	George Kirby (8-8)	#21	vs MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-7)	#108
Tue, Jun 30th	@ SEA	Bryan Woo (7-6)	#13	vs MIN	Joe Ryan (6-6)	#14
Wed, Jul 1st				vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#45
Fri, Jul 3rd	vs BOS	Jake Bennett (5-3)	#133	vs TB	Nick Martinez (9-2)	#104
Sat, Jul 4th	vs BOS	Sonny Gray (12-1)	#32	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (7-5)	#18
Sun, Jul 5th	vs BOS	Ranger Suarez (4-3)	#29	vs TB	Mason Englert (0-3)	#188
Mon, Jul 6th				@ WSH	Miles Mikolas (3-7)	#334
Tue, Jul 7th	@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#8	@ WSH	Andrew Alvarez (2-3)	#150
Wed, Jul 8th	@ TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-8)	#35	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (11-2)	#63
Fri, Jul 10th	@ MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-7)	#108	@ TEX	Cal Quantrill (3-2)	#318
Sat, Jul 11th	@ MIN	Joe Ryan (6-6)	#14	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (2-8)	#92
Sun, Jul 12th	@ MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#45	@ TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-8)	#35
Fri, Jul 17th	vs DET	Troy Melton (5-1)	#96	vs BAL	Dean Kremer (1-2)	#77
Sat, Jul 18th	vs DET	Tarik Skubal (6-5)	#2	vs BAL	Trevor Rogers (6-7)	#69
Sun, Jul 19th	vs DET	Casey Mize (4-6)	#39	vs BAL	Brandon Young (8-2)	#131
Mon, Jul 20th	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (7-4)	#119	vs MIA	Janson Junk (4-6)	#106
Tue, Jul 21st	vs STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-6)	#109	vs MIA	Tyler Phillips (2-4)	#271
Wed, Jul 22nd	vs STL	Michael McGreevy (4-7)	#88	vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (10-5)	#53
Fri, Jul 24th	@ SF	Logan Webb (5-7)	#15	@ CWS	Davis Martin (9-5)	#94
Sat, Jul 25th	@ SF	Robbie Ray (8-6)	#86	@ CWS	Sean Burke (7-4)	#87
Sun, Jul 26th	@ SF	Trevor McDonald (3-7)	#163	@ CWS	Erick Fedde (5-6)	#404
Mon, Jul 27th	vs HOU	Tatsuya Imai (5-4)	#135	@ LAA	Walbert Urena (5-7)	#265
Tue, Jul 28th	vs HOU	Peter Lambert (8-5)	#136	@ LAA	Reid Detmers (3-6)	#43
Wed, Jul 29th	vs HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#154	@ LAA	Grayson Rodriguez (3-3)	#105
Fri, Jul 31st	vs MIL			vs TEX
Sat, Aug 1st	vs MIL			vs TEX
Sun, Aug 2nd	vs MIL			vs TEX
Mon, Aug 3rd				vs TOR
Tue, Aug 4th	@ BAL			vs TOR
Wed, Aug 5th	@ BAL			vs TOR
Fri, Aug 7th	@ MIA			@ SD
Sat, Aug 8th	@ MIA			@ SD
Sun, Aug 9th	@ MIA			@ SD
Mon, Aug 10th	vs TEX			@ SF
Tue, Aug 11th	vs TEX			@ SF
Wed, Aug 12th	vs TEX			@ SF
Fri, Aug 14th	vs KC			vs SEA
Sat, Aug 15th	vs KC			vs SEA
Sun, Aug 16th	vs KC			vs SEA
Tue, Aug 18th	@ HOU			vs LAA
Wed, Aug 19th	@ HOU			vs LAA
Thu, Aug 20th	@ HOU			vs LAA
Fri, Aug 21st	@ TEX			vs ATH
Sat, Aug 22nd	@ TEX			vs ATH
Sun, Aug 23rd	@ TEX			vs ATH
Tue, Aug 25th	vs CLE			@ NYY
Wed, Aug 26th	vs CLE			@ NYY
Thu, Aug 27th				@ NYY
Fri, Aug 28th	vs PHI			@ NYM
Sat, Aug 29th	vs PHI			@ NYM
Sun, Aug 30th	vs PHI			@ NYM
Mon, Aug 31st	vs NYY			vs CWS
Tue, Sep 1st	vs NYY			vs CWS
Wed, Sep 2nd	vs NYY			vs CWS
Thu, Sep 3rd				vs CWS
Fri, Sep 4th	@ PIT			vs ARI
Sat, Sep 5th	@ PIT			vs ARI
Sun, Sep 6th	@ PIT			vs ARI
Tue, Sep 8th	@ BOS			@ PHI
Wed, Sep 9th	@ BOS			@ PHI
Thu, Sep 10th				@ PHI
Fri, Sep 11th	@ WSH			@ TB
Sat, Sep 12th	@ WSH			@ TB
Sun, Sep 13th	@ WSH			@ TB
Tue, Sep 15th	vs SEA			vs KC
Wed, Sep 16th	vs SEA			vs KC
Thu, Sep 17th	vs MIN			vs KC
Fri, Sep 18th	vs MIN			vs ATL
Sat, Sep 19th	vs MIN			vs ATL
Sun, Sep 20th	vs MIN			vs ATL
Tue, Sep 22nd	@ ATH			@ SEA
Wed, Sep 23rd	@ ATH			@ SEA
Thu, Sep 24th	@ SEA			@ ATH
Fri, Sep 25th	@ SEA			@ ATH
Sat, Sep 26th	@ SEA			@ ATH
Sun, Sep 27th	@ SEA			@ ATH
Mon, Apr 27th	@ CWS	Anthony Kay (6-4)	#200
Wed, Apr 29th	@ CWS	Erick Fedde (5-6)	#404
Thu, May 21st	vs ATH	Luis Severino (2-6)	#183
Mon, Jun 1st	vs COL	Kyle Freeland (2-9)	#237
Thu, Jun 18th	@ ATH	Gage Jump (3-5)	#90
Thu, Jul 2nd	@ SEA	Bryce Miller (4-4)	#38
Thu, Jul 9th	@ TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (9-8)	#17
Thu, Aug 6th	@ BAL
Thu, Aug 13th	vs TEX
Mon, Aug 24th	vs CLE
Mon, Sep 7th	@ BOS
Mon, Sep 14th	vs SEA

Who Should I Trade?

AJ Blubaugh for Yusei Kikuchi (2026)

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