The Los Angeles Dodgers reinstated Kenta Maeda from the 10-day disabled list and placed Joc Pederson on the seven-day DL for concussions, retroactive to Wednesday. Los Angeles has 13 pitchers on their 25-man active roster.
Maeda starts in Thursday’s rubber match against the St. Louis Cardinals. He returns from left hamstring tightness that had been an issue for multiple weeks. The Dodgers put Maeda on the DL one day after he threw a career-high 8.1 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Had the right-hander not allowed a two-run home run, it was plausible Maeda would’ve turned in his first career complete game.
Overall this season, Maeda is 3-2 with a 5.03 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. Los Angeles has won five of his seven starts. The 29-year-old views his return as key to establishing momentum moving forward.
While Maeda’s ERA remains high, it’s inflated by a string of bad starts from earlier this season. He’s since moved away from overthrowing a four-seam fastball, which led to improved results in Maeda’s past three starts.
Pederson suffered a neck strain on Tuesday after colliding with Yasiel Puig in the 10th inning. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame that Pederson passed concussion protocol, though said Wednesday the club was still monitoring the young center fielder.
Pederson is batting .200/.309/.314 with six doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI in 35 games.
