When the Los Angeles Dodgers were still in the midst of completing their series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, their probables for a weekend set against the San Francisco Giants were somewhat in flux.
Because of playing a 15-inning marathon of a game at Chase Field, Kenta Maeda was moved to the bullpen as a safety net in the series finale. Roberts also indicated Clayton Kershaw was changed to a scheduled start on Sunday.
He initially stopped short of naming probables for Friday’s and Saturday’s games with the Giants, in part due to the likelihood of the series opener getting rained out. But when Maeda wasn’t needed against the Diamondbacks, he was slated to face the Giants on Friday night.
However the game was rained out and postponed to April 28, while Rich Hill was eventually named Saturday’s starter.
Now down to a two-game series at AT&T Park and with an off day looming Monday, the Dodgers have again moved Maeda to the bullpen, per Alanna Rizzo of SportsNet LA:
Kenta Maeda is available out of the bullpen all weekend.
— Alanna Rizzo (@alannarizzo) April 7, 2018
Maeda thrived as a reliever during the 2017 postseason, allowing just one run while recording 10 strikeouts in 10.2 innings pitched. Despite that success, the right-hander went into the 2018 season firmly part of the organization’s plans with their starting rotation.
In his lone outing thus far, Maeda notched 10 strikeouts and limited the Giants to five hits across five shutout innings.
