Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi announced as Angels’ opening day starter

TEMPE, Ariz. — Two years ago, Major League Baseball began asking clubs to refrain from announcing opening-day starters until the final week of spring training in hopes that a coordinated release of the opening-day pitching matchups would drum up more interest and intrigue in the games.

Ron Washington must have missed the memo. The Angels manager announced on Thursday that left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, who signed a three-year, $63-million deal last November, will start the team’s season opener against the Chicago White Sox on March 27.

“It’s obvious,” Washington said as the team held its second-to-last workout before Saturday’s Cactus League opener against the Seattle Mariners. “We just signed him to a big contract. We didn’t bring him here to be No. 4 or 5 [starter]. We didn’t bring him here to be a three or a two. We brought him here to lead our staff.”

Kikuchi, a 33-year-old veteran with a 41-47 career record and 4.57 ERA in 166 games over six big-league seasons, went 4-9 with a 4.75 ERA in 22 starts with the Toronto Blue Jays last season but was dominant after being traded in late July to the Houston Astros, going 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 10 starts for the American League West champions.

“Very happy and honored … but it is just one game,” Kikuchi, speaking through an interpreter, said of his first major league opening-day assignment. “What’s most important is staying healthy over 32 starts in a season and putting up the numbers. That’s what I’m more focused on.”