After coming over from Japan, right-handed pitcher Kenta Maeda had a very successful rookie season with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016, leading the team in innings pitched. Some fatigue set in late, which Maeda looked to improve upon this year now with MLB experience under his belt.
The 2017 season ended up being an unprecedented one for him, as for the first time in his career he pitched out of the bullpen, earning his first career save in the regular season and then developing into one of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ best weapons as a reliever in the postseason.
Maeda got off to a rough start to the season, posting a 6.58 ERA in the month of April. But after a stint on the disabled list and short demotion to the bullpen, Maeda regained his form and had an outstanding month of June in which he yielded a 1.71 ERA.
Overall on the season, Maeda went 13-6 with a 4.22 ERA, 4.07 FIP and 1.15 WHIP in 29 games (25 starts). In 134.1 innings pitched he struck out 140 and walked just 34.
Right-handed hitters posted a .647 on-base plus slugging percentage against Maeda, so when the playoffs rolled around and the Dodgers rotation consisted of Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Yu Darvish and Alex Wood, Maeda became a prime candidate to move to the bullpen.
That is where he thrived, as in 10.2 postseason innings he gave up just five hits and one run while striking out 10 and walking two.
2017 Highlight
Although the Dodgers wound up losing to the Houston Astros in the World Series, Maeda was one of the team’s unsung heroes in October and his entire postseason performance has to be considered his biggest highlight.
Game 3 of the World Series, in particular, was an impressive outing for Maeda as after teammate Yu Darvish struggled, he came in and provided the Dodgers some quality innings. Maeda threw 2.2 shutout innings and kept the Dodgers in the game, although they wound up losing 5-3.
2018 Outlook
Maeda still has two years remaining on the eight-year contract he signed, and while he found success as a reliever, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the team still views Maeda as a starter moving forward.
However, if Maeda struggles in that capacity, it would not be out of the question to see him return to the bullpen, as everyone saw how well his stuff played as a reliever.
