Tag Archives: Kenta Maeda

Jul 25

Game 95, 2022

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Nationals at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: MASN2, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

RHP Paolo Espino (0-3, 3.57 ERA) takes the ball for the Nationals and Tony Gonsolin (11-0, 2.02 ERA) gets it for the Dodgers. In three career appearances (one start) against the Dodgers, Espino does not have a decision with a 3.68 ERA. He’s appeared in 27 games this season, seven of them starts. Gonsolin had a rough All Star Game showing; he and his team hope that was an aberration.

The worst All-Star game ever? So thinks Ken Levine, ex-broadcaster and comedy writer.

Ken Rosenthal notes at The Athletic:

…while the Giants-Dodgers rivalry remains among the most intense in the game, it does not preclude former teammates — and their wives — from remaining close. On Friday, two Dodgers wives, Ellen Kershaw and Nicole Barnes, helped host a baby shower in Los Angeles for two Giants wives whose husbands used to play for the Dodgers, Suzanna Wood and Kelsey Pederson.

Suzanna and Alex Wood are expecting their first child in September. Kelsey and Joc Pederson are expecting their third in October.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1962 At Sportsman’s Park, Stan Musial surpasses Giants’ legend Mel Ott as the National League’s all-time RBI leader. ‘Stan the Man’s’ two-run home run off Don Drysdale in a 5-2 loss to the Dodgers gives the Cardinals’ right fielder 1,862 career runs batted in with the Redbirds.
  • 2017 The Dodgers defeat the Minnesota Twins to run their record to 70-31. Kenta Maeda gets his ninth win of the season and Josh Ravin posts his first save.

Lineups when available.

Jul 25

Game 101, 2021

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Rockies at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet RM, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

RHP Jon Gray (6-8, 3.68 ERA) goes for the Rockies and rookie RHP Josiah Gray (0-0, 9.00 ERA) does the same for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1962 At Sportsman’s Park, Stan Musial surpasses Giants’ legend Mel Ott as the National League’s all-time RBI leader. ‘Stan the Man’s’ two-run home run off Don Drysdale in a 5-2 loss to the Dodgers gives the Cardinals’ right fielder 1,862 career runs batted in with the Redbirds.
  • 2017 The Dodgers defeat the Minnesota Twins to run their record to 70-31. Kenta Maeda gets his ninth win of the season and Josh Ravin posts his first save.

Lineup when available.

Jul 23

Game 99, 2021

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Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet RM, SPNLA

RHP Chi Chi González (3-6, 5.99 ERA) goes for the Rockies and LHP David Price (4-0, 3.12 ERA) starts for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1939 Using yellow dyed balls, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers 5-2 at Sportsman’s Park. The experimenting with the use of the colored sphere, which is designed to make the ball easier to see for the players and the fans, started in Brooklyn last week and will be tested once more, in a September game played at Wrigley Field.
  • 1962 Jackie Robinson becomes the first black player inducted into the Hall of Fame. Joining the Dodger infielder in the Cooperstown ceremony are fireballer Bob Feller, veteran manager Bill McKechnie, and outfielder Edd Roush.

  • 1965 Dick Stuart homers in the first inning in the Phillies’ 5-1 win over New York at Shea Stadium. ‘Dr. Strangeglove’, who played in Boston for the previous two seasons, becomes the first player to have gone deep in each of the 19 major league ballparks now in use. (Ed. note – Nineteen ballparks because both Los Angeles teams, the Angels and Dodgers, share the ballpark in Chavez Ravine. – LP)
  • 1974 At Three Rivers Stadium, Dodger first baseman Steve Garvey, a write-in All-Star starter, singles and doubles to help the National League beat the Junior circuit, 7-2. Mike Schmidt, also a write-in, plays in his first Midsummer Classic thanks to radio intern Howard Eskin’s on-air campaign which urged Phillies fans to stuff the ballot box for their young third baseman.

Also, Nomah! In 2002 Nomar Garciaparra establishes the record for consecutive home runs in the shortest time in terms of innings. In a 22-4 rout of the Devil Rays at Fenway Park, the Red Sox shortstop homers three times in two frames – two two-run homers in the second and a grand slam in the third.

Lineup:

Jul 19

Game 95, 2021

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Giants at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: NBCSBA, SPNLA

Ace RHP Kevin Gausman (9-3, 1.73 ERA) takes the mound for the Giants and RHP Tony Gonsolin (1-0, 2.13 ERA) goes for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2017 Chris Taylor, Kiké Hernandez and Corey Seager each hit home runs as the Dodgers defeated the White Sox in a rain-shortened interleague game in Chicago behind Kenta Maeda’s five strong innings and two innings of relief from Ross Stripling.

Lineup when available.

Jun 05

Game 58, 2021

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Dodgers at Braves, 4:15 PM PDT, TV: Fox

LHP Clayton Kershaw (7-4, 3.33 ERA) goes for the Dodgers; RHP Charlie Morton (4-2, 4.26 ERA) pitches for the Braves.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1977 On Old Timers’ Day, the Dodgers retire former manager Walter Alston’s uniform number 24. ‘Smokey’ compiles a 2040-1613 (.558) record along with seven pennants that results in four World Championships during his 23 years in the dugout.
  • 2015 Current Dodger Pat Venditte becomes the first full-time switch-pitcher in the modern era when he tosses two scoreless frames in Oakland’s 4-2 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The A’s ambidextrous reliever faces the minimum six batters in his two innings, allowing a single to Hanley Ramirez before getting an inning-ending double play in the seventh and then proceeds to pitch a perfect eighth.

Lineup:

Sep 29

AL Wild Card Series Game One, 2020

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Astros at Twins, 11:08 AM PDT, TV: ABC (ABC? Really? When’s the last time ABC broadcast baseball? The network is going to draft some broadcasters from its sister cable network ESPN)

Two old friends start against one another: RHP Zack Greinke for the Astros meets RHP Kenta Maeda of the Twins. Greinke’s first five starts netted him a 1-0 record with a 1.84 ERA. He then fell off a cliff, going 2-3 with a 5.73 ERA in his last seven outings. Maeda will make his first postseason start since 2016 (he made 21 postseason relief appearances for the Dodgers from 2017-2019), and he earned it. He was 6-1 with a 2.70 ERA for the season.

White Sox at Athletics, 12:08 PM PDT, TV: ESPN

The White Sox hand the ball to RHP Lucas Giolito; he’ll make his 85th career start but first ever in Oakland. He was 4-3 with a 3.48 ERA this season. He’ll face LHP Jésus Luzardo, who was 3-2 with a 4.12 ERA and 59 Ks (second among AL rookies) for the year.

Blue Jays at Rays, 2:07 PM PDT, TV: TBS

RHP Matt Shoemaker (0-1, 4.71 ERA) is a surprise starter for the Jays, one who’s not expected to go deep into the game. He’ll face the Rays’ LHP Blake Snell (4-2, 3.24 ERA). Shoemaker was held out of his last regularly scheduled start to keep him fresh for this game. Snell faced the Blue Jays twice this year and surrendered just two runs to them over 7 2/3 innings.

Yankees at Indians, 4:08 PM PDT, TV: ESPN

The Yankees signed RHP Gerrit Cole last offseason for just this event: Game One of a postseason series. Cole did his part, leading the team in wins, starts, complete games, innings and strikeouts. He wound up 7-3 with a 2.84 ERA. He’s gone 6-4 with a 2.60 ERA in his postseason career. The Indians counter with RHP Shane Bieber (8-1, 1.63 ERA). He came close to postseason experience in 2018: he was scheduled to start Game Four of the Division Series that season but the Indians were swept in three games by the Astros.

Aug 04

Game 12, 2020

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Dodgers at Padres, 6:10 PM PDT, TV: FSSD, SPNLA

RHP Dustin May (0-0, 2.35 ERA) takes the mound for the Dodgers. He’ll face the Padres’ RHP Dinelson Lamet (1-0, 1.80 ERA). The Dodgers are hoping May will reduce the number of baserunners he allows; he’s got a 1.565 WHIP over his first two starts. Lamet supposedly has control problems, but when you throw 98-99 mph that mitigates some of them.

Here’s Beaty making a nifty catch in yesterday’s game:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1908 In Brooklyn, the last-place Cardinals blank the Brooklyn Superbas (Dodgers), 3-0. The entire Washington Park contest is played with just one ball.
  • 1941 Mickey Owens becomes the first catcher to handle three foul pop ups in one frame. The Brooklyn backstop’s third inning defense contributes to the Dodgers’ 11-6 victory over New York at Ebbets Field.
  • 1942 In a military relief game at the Polo Grounds, which will be the last war-time twilight game played, Pee Wee Reese’s grand slam in the top of the ninth, which puts the Dodgers up 5-1, doesn’t count because of the 9:10 pm government curfew. The game ends up as a 1-1 tie with the Giants.
  • 1948 Ernie Harwell, filling in for Red Barber, who is recovering from a bleeding ulcer, calls his first major league game as the Dodgers beat the Cubs at Ebbets Field, 5-4. To obtain the future Hall of Fame broadcaster, Brooklyn general manager Branch Rickey trades minor league catcher Cliff Draper to the Atlanta Crackers.

Lineup when available.

Jul 18

Opening day roster speculation

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Who’s gonna be on it?

Pitchers: Pedro Báez, Walker Buehler, Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, Clayton Kershaw, Ross Stripling, Blake Treinen, Julio Urías, Alex Wood, Brusdar Graterol and Dustin May

Starting depth could be an issue. After losing Hyun-Jin Ryu, Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill (68 starts combined last year) over the offseason, the only veteran starters the Dodgers added were Price and Jimmy Nelson, but both are out for the season. That leaves Urías, Wood and youngsters May, Gonzalez and White to pick up those 68 starts.

Will Smith and Austin Barnes are the catchers. Infielders are Enrique Hernández, Max Muncy, Gavin Lux, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Matt Beaty and Edwin Rios. Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts, Joc Pederson, A. J. Pollack and Chris Taylor are the outfielders.

Subject to change at any moment, of course.

Feb 09

Betts deal finally done

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Per ESPN’s Jeff Passan:

Catching prospect Connor Wong is headed to the Boston Red Sox alongside outfielder Alex Verdugo and shortstop Jeter Downs in the trade that will send outfielder Mookie Betts, starter David Price and cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers, sources tell ESPN. Players have been notified.

Notice the Twins were left out of that deal. However, Passan also says

The trade that will send right-hander Kenta Maeda and cash to the Minnesota Twins for right-hander Brusdar Graterol and the 67th pick in the draft — which has around a $1 million slot value — has been agreed upon, source confirms to ESPN. @Ken_Rosenthal was first with the deal.

Here’s an interesting perspective:

The Dodgers turned Kyle Farmer, Matt Kemp, Alex Wood and Yasiel Puig into Josiah Gray and Jeter Downs

Jeter Downs just got them Mookie Betts, they kept Josiah Gray and they also brought back Alex Wood

Nov 16

Broadway comes to Chavez Ravine

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With apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein, “What do you do with a problem like Maeda?”

The Athletic tells us today that Maeda doesn’t want to relieve, partly because his contract is built around him being a starter but (probably) more because he’s been a starter his entire life and doesn’t think of himself as anything else. The Dodgers don’t bluntly say “pitch better, then” but you get the sense that’s what they feel. As we’ve seen the last couple of years, he starts most of the year and then is moved to the bullpen in September and October.

The strategy has proved effective for the Dodgers. But the approach vexes Maeda. It damages his pride and trims his paycheck. He has vocalized his frustration to Dodgers officials. After an unsuccessful attempt last winter to renegotiate his incentive-laden contract, which lasts another four years, Maeda remains steadfast in his desire to start. His agent, Joel Wolfe, reiterated that during a meeting with Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman this week.

“Kenta wants to make 30 starts, 32 starts during the season,” Wolfe said. “He would prefer not to be constantly shuttled to the bullpen and back. He doesn’t like it.”

[snip]

[Friedman] suggested if Maeda could improve against left-handed hitters he could solidify his place in the rotation.

“We think there’s actually more room for him to be even better, which we’re going to work with him on trying to tap into,” Friedman said. “And if he’s able to take that next step, not only do I see him in the rotation, I can see him potentially starting playoff games, if we’re fortunate enough to make it into October. He has been really good. And we think there’s another gear in there.”

I don’t blame the guy for wanting his role defined and set in stone; in my experience most people prefer that. And while Maeda has gotten some of the pay from the incentives in his contract, he’s certainly not maxing them out.

Maeda received a $25 million guarantee across eight years, with $10 million per season available in incentives.

The problem for Maeda is that those incentives were related to milestones achieved by starters, like starts made and innings pitched, and the Dodgers have chosen to use him as a reliever in September for the past three years. In 2016, when Maeda was a full-time starter, he earned $7.25 million in incentives, according to Spotrac. That number fell to $4.25 million in 2017 and then $3 million in 2018, before rebounding to $5.4 million this year.

Maeda was lights-out against right-handers in 2019; only Max Scherzer was better among ERA qualifiers in weighted on-base average. Against lefties, however, he was 36th of 88 pitchers in that ranking.

The problem doesn’t seem intractable, but it’s not a small one either. It will be interesting to see how the two sides resolve it.