Right-hander Kenta Maeda, who spent the last four seasons with the Twins, is ready to switch sides in the American League Central after agreeing to a two-year contract with the Tigers, a source told MLB’s Mark Feinsand.com.
Detroit has not confirmed the pact.
Maeda had a good year in his first season back after Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss all of 2022. In 104.1 innings in 2023, he posted a 4.23 ERA that was a little below the league average (4.33 ERA) while striking out 117 batters and walking just 28. His expected EFE of 3.77 – based on the quality and quantity of contacts – ranked in the 67th percentile.
Getting back to his previous form without missing a beat bodes well for Maeda as he approaches his 30s. Maeda has a long history of success in plenty of innings—he has pitched at least 100 innings in every season outside of 2020 and 2022—and he showed that he was healthy and effective after the injury.
Turning 36 just after Opening Day 2024, Maeda continues to find ways to tweak his arsenal. When Maeda arrived in the big leagues in 2016, he was throwing every one of his half-dozen pitches at least 10% of the time. By 2023, Maeda had slowly simplified that approach and three different pitches – his splitter, slider and four-seamer – were thrown at least 25% of the time. With 31.9% usage, Maeda’s splitter became his most used pitch for the first time in his career.
Maeda looks like a perfectly reasonable opener who should provide quality innings. With his arsenal and command intact after the operation, there’s a good chance he can keep it up for a few more years, even as he ages.