As the Los Angeles Dodgers progress through their 2016 Spring Training schedule, first-year manager Dave Roberts inches closer to needing to set a starting rotation for the regular season.
It very well could — likely should — change as the season progresses, given Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu remain on the recovery trail. However, one constant may be found in Kenta Maeda.
Tuesday marked the Japanese right-hander’s third outing of the spring. Facing a Chicago White Sox lineup that resembled what may be seen on Opening Day, the 27 year old again some of the command he’s lauded for, en route to another strong outing.
Maeda’s scoreless Spring Training came to an end in the fourth as an Adrian Gonzalez two-base error led to the White Sox pushing across two unearned runs.
Maeda’s ability to nibble at the corners and get batters to swing at pitches out of the strike zone kept the White Sox off balance.
The 3.2 innings tossed is the most for Maeda in any of his starts during his young career with the Dodgers.
Now through three Spring Training starts, Maeda has thrown a combined 8.2 innings pitched and allowed just two unearned runs on seven hits, walked four and collected eight strikeouts.
