Kenta Maeda An Underrated Ace
4 years agoMinnesota Twins starting pitcher Kenta Maeda had a 3.87 ERA in 589 regular season innings in his four years with the Dodgers, and he also had a 1.64 ERA in 21 relief outings in the playoffs from 2017-19. The right-hander had a 2.70 ERA, career-high strikeout rate (32.3%) and a career-low walk rate (4%) in his first year with the Twins in 2020. He finished second in the American League Cy Young voting. The 32-year-old has been downright tough against right-handed hitters, but he's been in the middle of the pack against lefties. Maeda used his best pitch (his slider) a lot more against lefties last year and made his average fastball his third pitch. The veteran right-hander shouldn't be expected to be as good as he was in 2020, but he should be a solid target as your second fantasy starter despite lacking overwhelming velocity.
Source: MLB.com - Mike Petriello
Source: MLB.com - Mike Petriello