Minnesota Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda was forced to leave his Thursday start against the Boston Red Sox after taking a line drive to his ankle. While it was a scary sight at the time, Maeda seems to have avoided a serious injury.
Maeda is feeling better than expected on Friday after being hit, via Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic. While Minnesota still needs to see how Maeda's ankle reacts, manager Rocco Baldelli thinks Maeda could missed the injured list altogether.
The right-hander lasted two innings against the Red Sox, allowing one run via a solo shot. He didn't allow a hit outside of the blast. Minnesota went on to lose that game 5-11. While they came away with a loss, the Twins can be happy knowing Maeda didn't get severely hurt on the comebacker.
Kenta Maeda came to the Twins via a 2020 trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He finished runner up in the AL Cy Young race with a 6-1 record, 2.70 ERA and 80/10 K/BB ratio. His ERA bloated to 4.66 in 2021 however. Maeda was then forced to miss the entire 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery.
He has battled back though and is back on the mound for Minnesota in 2023. Through three starts, Maeda is 0-3 with a 4.15 ERA and a 12/1 K/BB ratio.
While his numbers haven't been great this year, Maeda is still a valued member of the Twins' rotation. His shot off the ankle didn't look good live. However, Maeda has seemed to escape. He'll need to not suffer a setback over the coming days, but Maeda is poised to miss an IL stint all together.
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