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His velocity is identical to what it was last season, across the board. He’s throwing the four-seamer far more than he did last year, but the sinker is still part of the mix. Those two, along with his slider, curveball and changeup all check in at the same speeds that they did last season, with certain negligible differences. The problem, though, is that no pitcher can live up and out over the zone with a 91 mph four-seamer. That’s where Maeda continues to run into trouble.
In the first two games of this three-game series at PETCO Park, the Dodgers outscored the Padres 18-0. Maeda’s homer put them up 5-0 in the fourth inning on Wednesday. Maeda also pitched in the 2015 WBSC Premier12 tournament, where he allowed two earned runs while striking out 14 in 12 innings. Innings over four games and allowed one run on four hits. Right-handed batters had just four hits in 32 at-bats against him in the post-season. Let’s take a look at some of those homers, with the understanding that there is a silver lining for Maeda involved.
MLB Home Runs Hit by Kenta Maeda | Baseball Almanac
Maeda was selected out of PL Gakuen Senior High School by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Japan's 2006 NPB Draft . He played in 2007 for the Carp's secondary team, before being called up to the NPB team in 2008. In his rookie season of 2008, Maeda posted a 9–2 win–loss record with a 3.20 earned run average in 19 games . In 2009, he was 8–14 with a 3.36 ERA in 29 starts. In 2010, he performed even better with a 15–8 record, a 2.21 ERA, and 174 strikeouts in 28 starts.
When Jorge Alcala finally relieved him, the young righthander forced in another run by beaning Jordan Luplow with a 99-mph fastball. Kenta Maeda surrendered six extra-base hits, including three mammoth home runs, and then the Twins' embattled bullpen somehow made things worse. The baseball drifted and drifted toward the left-field corner, its flight awakening the Dodgers dugout. Kenta Maeda sprinted out of the batter’s box but slowed as he approached second base. With one swing, he launched his team’s first home run of the season and created the year’s first moment of unbridled joy.
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Entire sections of the upper deck were populated in the single digits. Hours before the game, Maeda sat with catcher A.J. Will Ireton, Maeda’s interpreter, crouched behind them. Ireton scribbled notes in a palm-sized, black-and-white composition book. Their scouting finished, Maeda retired to the trainers’ room. Maeda lives in Tokyo with his wife, Saho, daughter and son.
He K'd 12 batters (8 consecutively, which was a new Twins record) with 2 BBs. The no-hitter was broken by Eric Sogard, the first batter Maeda faced in the top of the 9th. In the postseason Maeda made eight relief appearances, allowing 3 runs in 6.2 innings.
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He also became the youngest pitcher in Japanese baseball history to achieve the pitching Triple Crown in the same year. He won the Sawamura Award for the second time in 2015. More than half of the balls hitters have put in play against Maeda have been in the air, and more than one-fifth of those have turned into souvenirs. Now, to be fair, a 22.6% HR/FB ratio is unsustainable, even for the most homer-friendly pitcher in the league.
The Twins have been outscored from the seventh inning on this season.
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Even if they do go for hits, they’re likely singles. You can pitch around a single, but I’ve yet to hear of an instance of someone pitching around a home run. You’ll notice that Maeda missed his east-west location on each of these pitches, and he just doesn’t have the type of fastball that can afford to be in the spots these three were. That, more than anything, has hurt Maeda this year. He has been up in the zone too frequently, and hitters haven’t missed when he has served them a cookie.
On July 25, 2020, Maeda made his Twins debut. On August 12, he earned his 50th MLB career win. Now that we have the what, we can turn to the why. Maeda is up in the zone much more often than he was last year. The following zone profiles from Brooks Baseball show how location has been an issue for Maeda this season.
But really, Baldelli had already pretty much emptied the bench, using Nick Gordon as a defensive sub, Gilberto Celestino as a pinch runner, and Willians Astudillo as a pinch hitter, all in the ninth. I guess Maeda is probably faster than Ryan Jeffers. During the spring, Maeda often mentioned his excitement about getting the chance to hit.
Gilberto Celestino remained in the game in Brent Rooker’s spot, but was sent to center field, forfeiting the DH. Therefore, the pitcher was slid into the spot last occupied by Willians Astudillo. This is the 2021 Twins, so a five to two lead was not safe.
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