The off-season’s hot stove is getting hot with three pitchers having come off the market now: Aaron Nola re-signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, and Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. There are a lot of teams in the league that are looking to add pitching, and it seems a majority of them are focusing on Yoshinobu Yamamoto but not the Detroit Tigers, as they had been rumored to be interested in Seth Lugo; some have said Michael Wacha may be the perfect fit but today Evan Petzold said they are “seriously” interested in RHP Kenta Maeda who if he signed with Detroit would be them stealing a top pitcher from a division rival in the Twins. Maeda is the kind of arm you could add to this Tigers rotation to replace Eduardo Rodriguez, who opted out of his contract. Maeda isn’t an ace, but he can absolutely be a number one and an anchor for the Tigers pitching staff. Is Maeda someone you’d want in this rotation? Well, let’s take a look at his career and his numbers.
Kenta Maeda By The Numbers
Maeda signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on January 7, 2016, and would debut on April 6. In that start, he went six innings, giving up just five hits and no runs; he didn’t issue a walk and struck out four. He would go on to make 32 starts that season, going 16-11 with a 3.48 ERA, a 3.58 FIP, a 1.0 HR/9, a 2.6 BB/9, and a 9.2 K/9; he finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting for the National League. He would pitch four seasons with the Dodgers, making 137 appearances, with 103 of those being starts going 47-35 with a 3.87 ERA, a 3.71 FIP, a 1.15 WHIP, a 1.2 HR/9, a 2.7 BB/9, and a 9.8 K/9. The Dodgers would trade him to the Minnesota Twins in February of 2020 as part of the trade that helped lead the Dodgers to acquire Mookie Betts and David Price from the Boston Red Sox. In three seasons with the Twins, Maeda made 53 appearances with 52 starts, going 18-14 with a 4.02 ERA, a 3.81 FIP, a 1.4 HR/9, a 2.3 BB/9, and a 10.1 K/9. This season, he made 21 appearances, starting 6-8 with a 4.23 ERA, a 4.02 FIP, a 1.16 WHIP, a 1.5 HR/9, a 2.4 BB/9, and a 10.1 K/9. He also pitched in the ALDS for the Twins this season in relief, appearing in two games going 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA. For his career, he is 65-49 in 190 games and 155 starts with a 3.92 ERA, a 3.74 FIP, a 1.14 WHIP, a 1.2 HR/9, a 2.6 BB/9, and a 9.9 K/9. He has an 8.4 career WAR, a 24.9 strikeout percentage, and a 7.0 walk percentage.
Bottom Line:
So, looking at his stats, would Maeda make sense for the Tigers? You can pair him with Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, and Matt Manning to form four of your five starters entering 2024.
