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Detroit Tigers' Kenta Maeda has 7.26 ERA in 16 starts. Will team eat rest of his contract?
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- Detroit Tigers' Kenta Maeda has 7.26 ERA in 16 starts. Will team eat rest of his contract?
Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris has signed one free agent to a multi-year contract during his two-year tenure as the person responsible for building the roster.
That player is right-hander Kenta Maeda .
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The Tigers , led by Harris, signed Maeda — who turned 36 years old in mid-April — to a two-year, $24 million contract in November 2023, guaranteeing him $14 million in 2024 and $10 million in 2025. After 16 starts, Maeda has a 7.26 ERA with 23 walks and 50 strikeouts across 65⅔ innings.
A player with more than five years of service time must consent being optioned to the minor leagues, so as much as fans beg for a demotion, the Tigers can't sent him down to Triple-A Toledo because of his veteran status.
THE DEAL: Tigers sign right-hander Kenta Maeda to two-year, $24 million contract
"There's definitely frustration," Maeda said in Japanese through interpreter Daichi Sekizaki. "Nothing really is going right at this point, and I'm causing too much trouble to the team, and I feel sorry about that."
Kenta Maeda of the Detroit Tigers reacts after giving up a home run to Angel Martinez of the Cleveland Guardians during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Tuesday, July 9, 2024.
The Tigers — as a result of Maeda's season-long struggles — have lost games in 11 of his 16 starts, including losses in each of his past eight starts. He has given up at least five earned runs in six of his 16 starts, and in his last two starts, he has allowed a combined 15 runs across a miserable 6⅓ innings.
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Remember when Harris expected Maeda to help the young pitchers learn to command their pitches ? These days, it feels like an automatic loss whenever Maeda takes the mound because he can't command his own pitches.
THROWBACK: Tigers expect veteran Kenta Maeda to help young pitchers 'lock in our command'
Maeda, who says he is healthy, is lined up to pitch Sunday against the hard-hitting Los Angeles Dodgers at Comerica Park, which is the final game on the schedule before the All-Star break.
Maybe the Tigers can find a way to skip his start and avoid the inevitable beatdown from the Dodgers. Maybe the Tigers will hide Maeda in the bullpen for the foreseeable future.
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"The break is coming at a good time," manager A.J. Hinch said, who pulled Maeda after 49 pitches with two outs in the third inning of Tuesday's 9-8 loss to the Cleveland Guardians . "The No. 1 goal is to get him right. We've got to unlock the things he needs to do to be more effective."
There are 121 MLB pitchers with at least 65 innings pitched in the 2024 season. Among that group, Maeda ranks 121st in ERA (7.26), 120th in fielding independent pitching (5.71), 120th in home runs per nine innings (2.1), 119th in opponent batting average (.305), 117th in WHIP (1.584) and 102nd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.17).
He also ranks 121st in opponent slugging percentage, at .545. For reference, All-Star outfielder Juan Soto of the New York Yankees has a .547 slugging percentage in his 89-game season.
"Reflecting on my baseball career, I don't think I've struggled this badly," said Maeda, who has pitched eight seasons in Japan and eight seasons in the United States. "Not finding the solution has led to the results of this season. It's not that I'm not trying. I'm doing my best and trying my hardest to bounce back, but things just aren't happening. Hopefully, I can continue to work hard and focus on finding the solution."
Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenta Maeda (18) pitches in the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Comerica Park in Detroit on Tuesday, July 9, 2024.
The main problem: Maeda — a fly-ball pitcher for his entire career — doesn't generate swings and misses anymore, which means he isn't generating enough strikeouts, which means there are too many balls in play in the air. His whiff rate has dropped from 28.2% in 2023 to 22% in 2024; his strikeout rate has dropped from 27.3% in 2023 to 17.1% in 2024.
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All three of his primary pitches — splitter, slider, four-seam fastball — have gotten worse since last season. His splitter remains effective when located, but opponents often eliminate it as part of the game plan, trying to crush his slider and fastball.
"It's hard to narrow it down to just one problem," Maeda said. "My pitching, overall, hasn't been effective, so hopefully, I can find a solution to that."
GOOD VIBES: Kenta Maeda believes Tigers are on track to be 'a winning team' in 2024 season
Maeda surrendered the 14th and 15th home runs of his 65⅔-inning campaign in Tuesday's first inning against the Guardians. He also became the third Japanese-born player to reach 1,000 strikeouts, joining Yu Darvish and Hideo Nomo , when he struck out Austin Hedges in the second inning.
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Last season, Maeda allowed 17 homers with 117 strikeouts in 104⅓ innings, posting a 4.23 ERA, as a member of the Minnesota Twins in his return from Tommy John surgery.
"I'm very happy about the career 1,000 strikeout," Maeda said. "However, my mind is so focused on things other than that."
Maeda sounds defeated.
He doesn't have any answers to his struggles.
"Anything that will get me out of this, I've been trying," Maeda said.
There isn't any reason to believe Maeda will suddenly improve, so how much longer can the Tigers afford to start Maeda every fifth day in the rotation?
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"It's pretty fresh after the game, obviously, so we haven't talked about it," Hinch said of Maeda's role. "Regardless of anything that we do, we got to get him right, and we got to find a way to get him to pitch more clean innings."
Will the Tigers eat the remainder of his $24 million contract?
That's a question for Harris.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple , Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kenta Maeda sounds defeated: What can the Detroit Tigers do now?
