Maeda stays in the central

In late November, Kenta Maeda and the Tigers agreed to a 2-year deal. With this new contract, Maeda will stay in the AL Central. Maeda made his MLB debut in 2016 and will turn 36 in April. While reading the news, I’m just wondering if the Tigers made a great decision to sign Kenta Maeda.

 

In 2023, the Tigers finished 2nd in the AL Central. However, they only won 78 games and lost 84 times. Hence, the Tigers had a season with a winning percentage below .500. Moreover, looking at the Tigers’ pitching performance, there’s something worth mentioning.

 

Stats (Pitching, Tigers, 2023)
Player	G	IP	W-L	SO	ERA	WHIP
Eduardo Rodriguez	26	152.2	13-9	143	3.30	1.15
Joey Wentz	25	105.2	3-13	98	6.90	1.68
Reese Olson	21	103.2	5-7	103	3.99	1.12
Tyler Holton	59	85.1	3-2	74	2.11	0.87

 

Kenta Maeda made 20 starts and 1 relief appearance in 2023. He owned a 4.23 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP over 104.1 innings. Opponents’ batting average against Maeda was .239. When we look at the stats of the Tigers’ pitching staff, only 3 pitchers threw at least 100 innings last year. Eduardo Rodriguez had a good season with the Tigers, posting a 3.30 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP over 152.2 innings. Moreover, Joey Wentz tossed 105.2 innings. However, he finished the 2023 season with an ERA over 6 and he posted a 1.68 WHIP. At the same time, Reese Olson is the other pitcher who threw at least 100 innings for the Tigers. He owned a 3.99 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP in 103.2 innings. With only 3 pitchers who ate at least 100 innings in 2023 and one of them chose to ink a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks, signing a starting pitcher is necessary for the Tigers.

 

In addition, by far in his career, Kenta Maeda made 6 starts at Comerica Park. He earned 2 wins and got 3 losses. Nevertheless, he has a 3.44 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP at this ballpark. In particular, he made 2 starts at Comerica Park last season, giving up only 1 run over 11 innings.

 

Against AL Central Teams (Kenta Maeda, 2016~2023)
	Guardians	Royals	Twins	White Sox
G	6	4	1	7
IP	32.2	23.0	5.0	37.2
ERA	3.86	1.57	1.80	5.02
WHIP	1.01	0.83	1.40	1.27
BAA	.221	.165	.238	.260
SO	32	31	4	35

 

Finally, let’s look at Maeda’s pitching performance against the AL Central opponents. Well, Maeda spent the last few seasons with the Twins and now, he’s a Tiger. So, let’s just take a closer look at his performances against the Guardians, the Royals and the White Sox. Maeda has pitched well against the Royals by far in his career. Against the Royals, he had a 1.57 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP over 23 innings. Meanwhile, he has a 3.86 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP against the Guardians. However, he made a start against the Guardians last season, giving up 6 runs over 4 innings. Moreover, against the White Sox, his ERA is over 5 thus far. Maeda made 2 starts against the White Sox in 2023 and he allowed 6 runs in 13 innings.

Kenta Maeda missed the entire 2022 season due to recovering from the Tommy John surgery. Last season, he tossed 100+ innings for the Twins. The Tigers just lost Eduardo Rodriguez, who decided to ink a 4-year deal with the D-backs. Adding Kenta Maeda in the rotation is surely helpful. However, Maeda will turn 36 in April and he missed some playing time due to injury in 2023. In 2024, the most important thing is certainly that the Tigers would like to see him stay healthy. And, with Maeda’s rich experience on the mound, he can influence the young starters of the Tigers.