Aug. 26: Maeda saw an orthopedic surgeon in Dallas, but there is not a definite plan for the treatment moving forward, per Phil Miller of the Star Tribune (via Twitter). There are multiple surgical options on the table, as well as the possibility for a rehab approach.
Aug. 24: Maeda is receiving multiple opinions on the injury, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. He adds that there’s “some concern” regarding possible damage to the right-hander’s ulnar collateral ligament as well.
Aug. 23: As expected, the Twins placed Maeda on the 10-day injured list due to right forearm tightness. The placement is retroactive to August 22. Miguel Sano was reinstated from the paternity list and will take Maeda’s spot on the active roster.
Aug. 21: Twins right-hander Kenta Maeda left today’s start due to right forearm tightness. Maeda allowed one run in his first four innings against the Yankees but then ran into trouble in the fifth, retiring only one batter and then allowing the next four New York hitters to reach base. Maeda had thrown nine consecutive balls before finally leaving the game.
Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli told Phil Miller of The Minneapolis Star Tribune (Twitter links) and other reporters that Maeda will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. It seems like a trip to the injured list will be in order, as Baldelli said “I don’t see very many scenarios right now where it’s not going to take some time to get Kenta back where he needs to be.”
Given the date, it certainly seems like Maeda’s season could be in jeopardy, to say nothing of a longer-term absence should his forearm injury prove to be serious. Maeda has made four visits to the IL during his six Major League seasons, though none of those stints were particularly long, and none involved an arm injury. Though Maeda’s contract (initially signed prior to the 2016 season) was rather notably incentive-heavy due to the Dodgers’ concerns about his physical, the righty has been mostly durable as he has pitched into his age-33 season.
Over 106 1/3 innings in 2021, Maeda has a 4.66 ERA, easily his highest as a Major Leaguer. That ERA is partially due to bad luck, as Maeda’s Statcast numbers are solid and he has above-average strikeout and walk rates. “Above average,” however, still represents a marked step backwards from Maeda’s elite 2020 performance, as the Twins righty finished second in AL Cy Young Award voting.
While the Twins are already looking ahead to 2022, losing Maeda for at least a while will only further deplete the team’s pitching depth. Minnesota has been deploying three rookies (Bailey Ober, Griffin Jax, and Charlie Barnes) in the rotation due to injuries and Jose Berrios leaving town at the trade deadline, with the newly-acquired John Gant also getting starts.
Yeah.
Happened pretty quick too. He just didn’t look right.
Hope he just needs to shut down for a bit. He’s a good pitcher when he’s on.
As Smoltz noted on the broadcast, he was shaking his arm at least six or seven times before that inning. Hopefully he didn’t push himself into an injury. He was pitching well, then he completely lost the ability to throw strikes.
Watching that game, he 100% pushed through which was a mistake on his part. I think he shook his arm in the 2nd inning then came out 3 more.
Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.
as Smoltz also note.. he was suprized they didn’t immediately go to the mound… instead of waiting for Maeda to call them out… a pitching coach, like Smoltz should have noticed it right away and need out to the mound after the 2nd shaking… because its wasn’t normal… another failure of the twins… they are too busy looking at the numbers to see the problem in front of them… a good coach sees the minutia and would have been out there in an instant… They should have saw what Smoltz saw..
Years ago I was at a Red Sox at Mets game and Flash Gordon came in for the save. Even from the cheap seats, I knew something wasn’t right. I don’t consider myself an expert but I’m a really good watcher and I understand pitching quite well. But they left him in and he blew the save and was out after that game for quite some time.
June 11, 1999.
Flash Gordon, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long long time
You were there too!?
sox won 3-2. Franco got tagged with the loss out of the pen.
I was the guy sitting behind you shouting out everyone’s body mass index! Makes me miss the steroid era, serious.
no but when i was coaching I knew when My kids were injured by watching them.. I knew when they were tired.. i knew when they had it .. and the days they didn’t…
Sounds like you were a pretty good coach.
Thank you… knowing the minutia was important to helping the kids be the best they could be..
Ruh-roh!
Wow, a deal Preller didn’t make that may have worked out for him!
The score is now good deals 2, bad deals 107.
Kenta make this up, is this why he didn’t go at the trade deadline?
RIP he will be missed
This is why his contract with the Dodgers was restructured after his initial physical before he signed, there was always concern over his elbow and amazingly its taken six years to get to this point
an “I told you so” 6 years later after some exceptional seasons. You were waiting a long time for that one, weren’t you? LOL
Not really an “i told you so post”. Merely pointing out what happend when he first arrived with the Dodgers. I don’t dislike Maeda and wish the original Mookie Betts deal that would have sent him to the Red Sox with Verdugo and Brusdar Graterol had gone through.
They should’ve moved him at the deadline.
The Eastside motel ain’t the next stop. Tommy John Inn is.
Hopefully, it won’t turn out to be serious. If he needs TJ, that’ll wipe out the only proven starter the Twins have under team control next year. The good news for Maeda is he could still return, pitch impressively in 2023 and finally get a contract paying him appropriately for his skill level.
While he’s due a little over $3 million each of the next two years, I tend to doubt that as a 5 inning pitcher Maeda will make bank in 2024 as a 36 year old free agent.
One of my favorite pitchers in the game. Hiroshima Carp fan here. Followed all of his games since he came over from Japan. Get well soon buddy!
What happened to that MRI they were doing today?.. they refuse to answer on the grounds it may incriminate them..
Oh baby!
Receiving “multiple opinions” is generally not a good sign.
What was the issue the Dodgers had initially with his arm? Was it specifically UCL related? Something else? Or never released?
To answer my own question, the original questions were around his elbow: At his unveiling Thursday, Maeda said the physical exam he provided to interested clubs revealed “irregularities” in his right elbow. From the MLB.com story on his signing with the Dodgers: “Neither he nor club officials would elaborate, but the strong suspicion is that he will need Tommy John reconstruction at some point.”
Unfortunately at this point I’m surprised when any pitcher does not need TJS at some stage in their career.
Well that was a long run from “at some point” to today. I’d be willing to bet on pretty much any MLB pitcher needing TJ at some point over 6 years.
Multiple opinions doesn’t sound good. But considering it is already late August, TJ now or TJ in October means the same thing, no 2022, so might as well make 100% sure.