Los Angeles Dodgers right-handed pitcher Kenta Maeda was demoted to the bullpen this past year, and he isn't happy about it.
It marked the second straight season that Maeda had been relegated to bullpen duty, and Maeda's agent, Joel Wolfe, has let it be known that his client doesn't appreciate the way he has been handled:
“Kenta wants to make 30 starts, 32 starts during the season,” Wolfe said, according to Andy McCullough of The Athletic. “He would prefer not to be constantly shuttled to the bullpen and back. He doesn’t like it.”
As for the response from the Dodgers' front office? Los Angeles thinks Maeda has it in him to be a consistently good pitcher, but it needs to seem him do that regularly before fully committing to him as a starter:
“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,” said president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. “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.”
Maeda's 2019 numbers hardly look bad, as he went 10-8 with a 4.01 ERA, allowing 114 hits and striking out 169 batters over 153 2/3 innings. However, a deeper dive reveals that consistency has been a big issue for the hurler.
The 31-year-old logged ERAs of 4.41, 2.73, 4.21, 5.11 and 4.26 from April through August, respectively, before being sent to the bullpen in September, where he posted a 3.45 ERA for the remainder of the year.
In 137 career appearances and 103 starts, Maeda has gone 47-35 with a 3.87 ERA.
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