Japanese pitcher Kenta Maeda must have been one of the most hyped free agents to ever jump from Asia to the MLB in recent years. With the exception of Masahiro Tanaka, no other foreign pitcher drew as much attention as Maeda did before sealing a move stateside.
The numbers certainly caught the eye of the experts. The 27-year-old right-hander went 97-67 with a 2.39 ERA and 1,233 strikeouts for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, and that led to several franchises to be interested in signing him once he became available prior to the start of the 2016 season.
Los Angeles Dodgers won the bid and, after paying the NPB club a $20M posting fee, inked Maeda to an eight-year, $25M contract with another $10M per year in incentives.
The original idea was to have Maeda as the team’s third or fourth starter, initially behind Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu, and he made his debut at the MLB on April 6th against the San Diego Padres. What he did in that game at Petco Park, however, was historically good.
Maeda hurled six shutout innings, allowing hits and fanning four. He also hit a home run in the top of the fourth inning to become the first Dodger pitcher to hit a homer in his debut since Dan Bankhead did it back in 1947. He received the silent treatment from the dugout before everybody went out to congratulate him for his milestone.
As if that wasn’t enough, the Dodgers became the second team in major league history to open the season with three consecutive shutouts. They are 3-0 to start the season, and they surely have all the looks of a contender in the National League.
It’s definitively too early to say if Maeda will be more than what the scouts hoped he could be, as some view him as a potential n°2 starter, while others believe he couldn’t be more than a bottom-of-the-rotation type of arm. The league might eventually figure him out, but all signs point toward Maeda being a huge bargain in the next few years for Los Angeles.