With an abundance of starting pitchers, the Los Angeles Dodgers face some decision-making for their postseason roster. Manager Dave Roberts indicated there was some clarity when he said Kenta Maeda and Hyun-Jin Ryu would finish the season pitching out of the bullpen.
Maeda went three innings in his start against the Philadelphia Phillies, seemingly laying the foundation for his transition to a relief pitcher. Ryu is starting Saturday against the San Francisco Giants, but his outing will not be abridged as Maeda’s was.
What’s more, Roberts softened on his stance of the Dodgers moving Ryu to the bullpen for the next week. Nonetheless, Ryu figures to be hard-pressed to crack a playoff rotation that’s likely to include Clayton Kershaw, Yu Darvish, Rich Hill and Alex Wood.
Assuming the Dodgers are to carry Maeda or Ryu as a reliever in the postseason, the DodgerBlue.com staff submitted their selection on which pitcher would be the better option.
Matt Borelli (@MattDodgerBlue):
While a starting four of Clayton Kershaw, Yu Darvish, Alex Wood and Rich Hill is more than sufficient, I think the Dodgers should include Kenta Maeda on the postseason roster for his experience as a swingman this season and ability to eat innings.
I chose Maeda over Hyun-Jin Ryu for this role because of durability concerns. Ryu has logged 122.1 innings this season, the most since his 2014 campaign, and the increased workload could potentially take a toll on him.
Not only that, but I think the Dodgers will carry at least two of Luis Avilan, Tony Cingrani and Tony Watson on the roster, and I’m just not sure another left-handed specialist in Ryu would be necessary.
Maeda’s arsenal would play better out of the bullpen as well. Each of his pitches would receive a boost in velocity and his slider in particular would have more bite to it with the right-hander being so fresh.
Opposing hitters are slashing just .239/.298/.463 when facing Maeda for the first time in a game this season, and that’s definitely not a coincidence.
Should a starting pitcher exit his postseason start earlier than expected, Maeda will be able to step in and keep the game within reach until the later innings emerge. His presence would allow manager Dave Roberts to keep a short leash and not have to worry about burning the bullpen.
Jared Massey (@JarredJMassey):
Assuming only one of the two would be included on the postseason roster, I’d go with Kenta Maeda. I could see Maeda boosting his velocity in shorter stints, which would cause his slider and cutter to play up. He’d also use his curveball less, which would be a bonus.
While I think Hyun-Jin Ryu could be effective in a relief role due to his secondaries, I’d worry about him not consistently throwing them for strikes. And when Ryu would have to throw his fastball, he could get hit hard.
Eric Avakian (@AvakEric):
When deciding between Hyun-Jin Ryu and Kenta Maeda, one instant stands out over the rest. When healthy, Ryu has the ability to be a top-tier pitcher, even in the Dodgers stacked rotation.
Ryu once dialed in two quality starts during the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, including huge performances in Game 3 and Game 6. During those two outings, he limited the Cardinals to one run on eight hits and two walks in 13 innings pitched, while striking out eight batters.
The southpaw has shown throughout his career that he can deliver on the big stage, as shown by back-to-back performances (14 innings pitched, zero runs, six hits, one walk, 15 strikeouts) in primetime telecasts on July 30 and Aug. 6.
Maeda showed signs of fatigue going into the postseason last year. During his first Major League season with less days of rest between starts, he slowly unraveled in the postseason. In 10.2 innings pitched, he allowed eight runs on 12 hits and seven walks.
Experience speaks louder than any other statistic in the postseason, especially when a reliever will need to bail out his teammates out of difficult situations. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went so far as to describe Ryu as a winning pitcher.
If the decision was up to me, I will take a healthy Ryu in the postseason over Maeda.
Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand):
While he wasn’t sharp in Thursday’s outing, I would still probably lean toward Kenta Maeda over Hyun-Jin Ryu as a reliever on the postseason roster.
They both have shown that they could be successful out of the bullpen, so to be honest, I may be inclined to include each of them considering how the Dodgers bullpen has performed as of late.
But with both Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani pitching well in recent weeks I think the Dodgers have a larger need for a righty reliever.
Maeda has been quite good in his few relief appearances this season, giving up just three hits and one run in five innings while striking out seven without allowing a walk. Hitters are 0-for-12 when facing Maeda, the reliever, for the first time in a game.
Jeff Spiegel (@JeffSpiegel):
For me, the answer is pretty easy in that I’d take Kenta Maeda. We could look at their numbers as relievers (where they’ll be used in the postseason), but the truth is, with a total of nine innings between them, we’re talking at far too small of a sample size.
The reason I’m taking Maeda isn’t because he’s struck out seven of the 18 batters he has faced as a reliever (while only allowing two to reach), but simply because he has been better all season as a starter.
Yes, Hyun-Jin Ryu has a lower ERA this season (3.46 to 4.25), but beyond that every number seems to favor Maeda. He strikes out more batters per nine innings (9.4 to 8.4), he walks less batters per nine innings (2.3 to 3.2), and he has allowed fewer batters to reach, with a WHIP of just 1.14 this season (compared to 1.33 for Ryu).
While Maeda hasn’t been at his best lately, I think the overall body of work from this season makes a pretty compelling argument for his inclusion this postseason.
