The Detroit Tigers will open up their Grapefruit League slate on Saturday with a date with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Tigers signed Kenta Maeda in December of 2023, and his freshman season in Detroit left much to be desired.

That said, Tigers manager AJ Hinch has named Maeda the Tigers' starter for their Spring Training opener. Hinch had an intriguing decision process that led to naming Maeda as the starter.

“He's come here to prove something,” Hinch said Wednesday morning, as reported by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, “and he's off to a good start because of his preparedness, the strength, the power in his stuff. But we're really judging him based on his preparedness to enter a game, so he's going to start the first game because he's the most ready.”

Petzold also reported that Maeda's fastball velocity was clocked at 92 MPH during his first live batting practice session this spring; in last year's first session, his fastball velocity came in at 86 MPH. A notable uptick in velocity like this is certainly indicative of Maeda being prepared.

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“I've been a starter all my career,” Maeda said last Saturday in Japanese, interpreted by Daichi Sekizaki and reported by Petzold. “I pride myself as a starter. For this spring, I'm here to compete to earn a spot in the starting rotation. I'll give my 100% to do that.”

Maeda is entering the second year of his two-year contract with the Tigers. The right-hander Maeda missed a couple of weeks in 2024 but appeared in 29 games (17 starts). The Japanese-born hurler put up a 6.09 ERA last year, and that was, by far, the worst mark of Maeda's eight-year career. Maeda's strikeout numbers were way down, too, as his K/9 rate sat at just 7.7 last year; Maeda has a career 9.6 K/9.

The Tigers' rotation is led by their ace Tarik Skubal. The 28-year-old Skubal won the American League Cy Young Award last year. Jack Flaherty signed a two-year deal with Detroit and is a strong second starter behind Skubal. A trio of young right-handers will get their starts as well, as Reese Olson, Casey Mize, and Jackson Jobe will garner several innings on the mound.