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Dodgers News: Kenta Maeda Scheduled For March 5 Spring Training Debut

Matthew Moreno
3 Min Read
Jon SooHoo-Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts formally announced on Sunday that Clayton Kershaw will start the club’s Cactus League opener and on Opening Day against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

The news was hardly a surprise, though Roberts previously played coy when asked just over one week ago if he was ready to name the staff’s unquestioned ace as the Opening Day starter.

Kershaw faced live batters for the first time this spring on Saturday, which Scott Kazmir did on Sunday, leaving Kenta Maeda, Brett Anderson and Alex Wood to follow in the coming days.

The throwing schedule lends to how the rotation may be pieced together once the 2016 regular season begins. The ballyhooed depth will be needed early as Hyun-Jin Ryu isn’t expected to return from last year’s shoulder surgery until May.

Maeda factors heavily into the Dodgers’ ability to overcome the loss of Zack Greinke to the Arizona Diamondbacks in free agency. The Japanese right-hander is slated to make his Dodgers debut on March 5 in a home tilt against the D-Backs, according to Bill Plunkett of the OC Register:

Like others who have made the jump from pitching in Japan to the Majors, Maeda faces the hurdle of adjusting to pitching more frequently. He’s spending Spring Training experimenting with different routines and sought advice from Yu Darvish and Hisashi Iwakuma.

Dodgers Complete 2016 Spring Training Schedule.

As for being part of the equation to replace Greinke, Kershaw said recently he doesn’t believe Maeda knows who the former Dodgers pitcher is, and thus doubts he is feeling any pressure to help offset the production lost.

Maeda, who will turns 28 years old on April 11, signed an eight-year, $25 million contract with the Dodgers in January. He can earn just shy of $100 million over the lifetime of the contract by reaching incentives for games started and innings pitched.

Maeda was 97-67 with a 2.39 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and averaged 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings in eight seasons with the Hiroshima Carp. Last season, he went 15-8 with a 2.09 ERA in 29 starts (206.1 innings pitched). Maeda posted a sub-3.00 ERA in each of the last six seasons, including a career-best 1.53 ERA in 2012.

Matthew Moreno is a journalist from Whittier, Calif., who is a credentialed reporter and is currently the Managing Editor of DodgerBlue.com and LakersNation.com. In addition to covering Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angels Lakers, Matthew has a strong passion for keeping up to date with the sneakerhead culture. It began with Michael Jordan and Air Jordan shoes, and has carried over to Kobe Bryant's signature line with Nike. Matthew previously was the lead editor and digital strategist at Dodgers Nation, and the co-editor and lead writer at Reign of Troy, where he covered USC Trojans Football. Matthew graduated from California State Long Beach University with a major in journalism and minor in communications. Contact: matt@mediumlargela.com