Kenta Maeda’s scoreless streak ended Sunday night.
But the high hopes Los Angeles Dodgers fans have for the Japanese right-hander should be alive and well.
After opening his big league career with 12 shutout frames spread over two starts, Maeda finally coughed up a run in the third inning Sunday against the San Francisco Giants on a solo homer by Joe Panik.
So now Maeda has an ERA. It sits at 0.47, to be exact, after he completed his seven-inning, four-hit, one-run, seven-strikeout performance against San Francisco in a 3-1 Dodgers win.
That ERA will rise as the season progresses. There will be rough outings. That’s the nature of this game, as hitters and the league inevitably adjust.
But so far, so great for Los Angeles’ enigmatic offseason investment, who appears ready for the bright lights of Southern California—and is looking like one of the winter’s biggest bargains.
Remember, the Dodgers signed Maeda in early January to an eight-year deal worth only $25 million guaranteed dollars. It was a pact, as FanGraphs’ Eno Sarris opined at the time, “that sounds like it belongs in the early 1990s…”
Concerns over Maeda’s elbow “limited [his] market,” according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times and allowed the Dodgers to scoop him up for a relative pittance.
The deal could go as high as $106.2 million if Maeda is on the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster (he was) and pitches at least 200 innings over a minimum of 32 starts every year, per Beth Harris of the Associated Press.
That’s a high hurdle to clear. Maeda is 28, meaning he’ll be 35 in the final year of the deal. And he logged nearly 1,500 innings in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league.
If he does cash in on all or most of his incentives, he will have been an incredibly valuable pitcher. And he will have made far less than the likes of David Price and ex-Dodger Zack Greinke, each of whom commanded more than $200 million.
That’s the long view. For now, Los Angeles is trying to win a fourth straight division title and bust its 28-year championship drought.
If Maeda can keep throwing like he has, that goal becomes far more attainable. Really, all he has to do is play credible second fiddle to undisputed No. 1 Clayton Kershaw.
With Hyun-Jin Ryu and Brett Anderson on the disabled list and left-hander Scott Kazmir sporting a 6.43 ERA, that role is especially essential.
“He never loses his poise,” pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said, per the Los Angeles Times‘ Dylan Hernandez. “I think you almost see the best of him when he’s in trouble. That shows how competitive he is and how he’s able to execute when he has to.”
That poise is one explanation for Maeda’s success. Another is his command.
Maeda averaged 1.9 walks per nine innings in Japan, and he issued just one free pass through his first two starts before surrendering three on Sunday.
He doesn’t blow hitters away with triple-digit heat. And he doesn’t feature a crazy forkball like some of his countrymen, including the New York Yankees‘ Masahiro Tanaka.
So far, however, Maeda has displayed the ability to befuddle opposing batters, hit his spots and let his defense back him up.
Oh, and he’s got some GIF-worthy moves, per MLB‘s official Twitter feed:
There’s still uncertainty. We’re far from unraveling the Maeda mystery, or seeing clearly where his MLB career is headed, as Hernandez outlined:
He’s still feeling out his catcher, as well as opposing hitters. The same with Los Angeles traffic. As for how his 6-foot, 150-pound frame will respond to a grueling 162-game schedule, the 28-year-old right-hander from Japan can only guess.
Maeda doesn’t know how his first major league season will unfold. The Dodgers don’t, either.
But Maeda has already checked some significant items off his to-do list, including besting the Giants, Los Angeles’ bitter rival and chief NL West competition.
If he strings together a few more dominant outings and stays healthy, he’ll slip squarely into the NL Rookie of the Year picture along with teammate Corey Seager. And he’ll help the franchise put the loss of Greinke further in its rearview.
Maeda’s scoreless streak is over. His intriguing major league tenure, on the other hand, is just getting started.
All statistics current as of April 17 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.
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