Georgia\u2019s two-way player Kenny Ishikawa is still struggling to find his pitching rhythm after suffering a foot injury early in the season. Ishikawa was hit by a pitch on his lower leg\/foot area in the Bulldogs\u2019 matchup versus South Carolina Upstate on Feb. 18. Georgia removed him from the lineup for just under a month before returning in limited action against Tennessee.<\/p>\n
Ishikawa\u2019s pitching has been inconsistent since returning from injury. Before the setback, he had only one outing on the mound. But the outing was strong, as he pitched 4 1\/3 innings of one-hit baseball, not surrendering a run and striking out eight.<\/p>\n
Since returning from injury, Ishikawa has started three games on the mound. Over the course of those outings, he has combined for 5 1\/3 innings pitched, allowing 12 earned runs, 10 hits and five walks. It\u2019s been a struggle for the young two-way star who was a sixth-round pick in the Nippon League\u2019s draft six months ago.<\/p>\n
While the return has been a slog, there is hope. In Ishikawa\u2019s latest start versus South Carolina on Sunday, he surrendered just two hits. While the effort only lasted one inning, head coach Wes Johnson seemed happy with his starter\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou watch, and he didn\u2019t have any big misses, right?\u201d said Johnson. \u201cHe\u2019s just still a tick off with his command.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ishikawa\u2019s offensive production has had ups and downs since he returned from injury. While he has hit .300 since returning to the lineup, he has only collected one RBI and one extra-base hit. In his latest series against the Gamecocks, Ishikawa went just 1 for 7. He does not, however, strike out. In his 26 at-bats on the season, he has only been struck out three times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just not doing the things I\u2019m supposed to be doing right now,\u201d said Ishikawa following the team\u2019s loss to Kennesaw State. \u201c[I\u2019m] still getting used to everything with timing, both pitching and hitting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the ups and downs he has experienced, Ishikawa\u2019s defense has remained consistent. The outfielder has two outfield assists and a perfect fielding percentage.<\/p>\n
While the efforts can be frustrating, Georgia needs Ishikawa in its lineup. The Bulldogs have struggled with their bullpen, relying largely on strong starts from Joey Volchko and Dylan Vigue. This has led to multiple losing efforts in midweek games when both starters are unavailable.<\/p>\n
Ishikawa\u2019s return to strength is important for the Dawgs to survive the rough Southeastern Conference schedule that lies ahead, as he will likely be the man they turn to in rubber matches. Johnson believes he is on the verge of turning the corner and returning to star status.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Georgia\u2019s two-way player Kenny Ishikawa is still struggling to find his pitching rhythm after suffering a foot injury…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":652877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2276],"tags":[5,48545,2291,4,1586],"class_list":{"0":"post-652876","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-draft","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-kenny-ishikawa","10":"tag-major-league-baseball-draft","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-mlb-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116319399839384160","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}