Twins Video
The Twins have seen the organization’s depth tested this year with seven starters on the Injured List as recently as Monday. Pitching also continues to evolve, with relievers taking on an even more critical role. Minnesota’s relievers have accumulated the AL’s fourth-lowest fWAR total and have allowed the sixth-highest batting average. The line between starter and reliever continues to be blurred, which might help one reliever transition to a bullpen role in 2022.
Kenta Maeda is on schedule to rejoin the team later this year after having modified Tommy John surgery last season. A brace was added to the impacted elbow to speed up his recovery time. This newer development can cut the recovery time from the standard 12-16 months to 9-12 months. Nine months after his surgery puts him on the mound in June, while 12 months would be September.
“This is a rehab that we know takes time, and you have to be patient,” manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters. “There’s no way to speed up some of these things. We wish there was, but everything that we could ask from a player as far as the work that they put in, we get from Kenta.”
Maeda had been rehabbing at the team’s Fort Myers facilities but rejoined the team at Target Field over the weekend. He has been throwing from 120 feet, and his next step is to get back on the mound in the next two to three weeks. A lot of things still need to go right for Maeda to pitch in 2022, but the Twins are in contention, and he has a history of being a dominant postseason reliever.
“I’m simply happy to be back, seeing the guys, to simply be around with them,” Maeda said through interpreter Daichi Sekizaki. “Just to be able to continue the same program at the big league stadium gets me going. (It’s) very exciting.”
The Dodgers used Maeda as a starter during the 2016 playoffs, but he allowed eight earned runs in 10 2/3 innings as his team fell to the Cubs in the NLCS. From 2017 to 2019, Los Angeles shifted Maeda to a relief role for postseason play, and he helped the team to back-to-back World Series appearances. In 22 innings, he allowed four earned runs (1.64 ERA) with 27 strikeouts and five walks (two intentional). His playoff prowess has been well documented, and the Twins may have an opportunity to use him out of the bullpen in 2022.
Maeda’s regular-season numbers as a reliever are nearly as strong as his postseason dominance. He has pitched 42 1/3 relief innings with a 3.19 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. As a starter, his K/9 is a respectable 9.7, but he has a 12.3 K/9 out of the bullpen. Opponents have hit .219/.275/.381 (.656) with 13 extra-base hits in 155 plate appearances. He’s also earned six regular-season saves and finished eight games, so he has the “proven closer” title.
Maeda has plenty of more hurdles before joining the team’s roster. There is also the question of what the Twins will need when Maeda is ready. If the team needs a starter, he must make multiple rehab starts to get stretched out. If the team wants him in the bullpen, he may have an earlier return to the Target Field mound.
Do you think Maeda will return to the Twins this season? What role will he fill for the club? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.
MORE FROM TWINS DAILY
— Latest Twins coverage from our writers
— Recent Twins discussion in our forums
— Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email
— Become a Twins Daily Caretaker
- The Mad King, nclahammer, MN_ExPat and 2 others
-
5
Recommended Comments
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.