Kenta Maeda DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

The Chicago Cubs signed free-agent right-hander Kenta Maeda to a minor-league deal on Thursday, and he's expected to make a start as soon as next week at Triple-A Iowa with Justin Steele (elbow), Shota Imanaga (hamstring) and Javier Assad (oblique) all on the injured list. Maeda, 37, joins the Cubs after being released by the Detroit Tigers last week after giving up eight runs (seven earned) with eight strikeouts and six walks in eight relief innings in a low-leverage relief role. However, 172 of his 226 career games have been as a starter. Maeda will give Chicago another starting option but could also be sent back to the bullpen as the team's rotation gets healthier. Fantasy managers in the vast majority of leagues can continue to ignore the Japanese pitcher. In 29 outings (17 starts) for Detroit last year, Maeda had a 6.09 ERA and 1.38 WHIP with 96 K's and 31 walks in 112 1/3 innings.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenta Maeda was unable to earn a rotation spot this spring and will begin the season in the bullpen, according to manager A.J. Hinch. Despite Maeda's sterling 1:19 BB:K over 12 2/3 spring innings, the veteran allowed eight earned runs during that time (5.68 ERA) on 13 hits, four of which were home runs. The righty began last season in the rotation but was relegated to the bullpen after his July 9 start, the sixth time in 16 starts to that point that he'd given up at least five earned runs. He posted a 7.42 ERA as a starter in 2024 (70 1/3 innings) and a 3.86 ERA as a reliever (42 frames). If the 36-year-old can have similar success with strikeouts as he did in Grapefruit League play, his ERA from '24 suggests he might be a solid relief option for Detroit in '25, but the Japanese pitcher is probably only a viable fantasy option in deep AL-only leagues. Casey Mize and Jackson Jobe will take the final rotation spots for the Tigers.

The Detroit Free Press' Evan Petzold reports that Detroit Tigers right-hander Kenta Maeda will start the team's Grapefruit League opener on Saturday versus the Philadelphia Phillies. Maeda hit 92 mph during his live batting practice session on Tuesday in camp, which is significantly higher than where he was at a year ago. The Tigers would likely to get as many looks at the 36-year-old veteran in spring training before deciding what his role will be to start the 2025 season. It's unclear if he'll be a starter or reliever on Opening Day, but the injury to Alex Cobb (hip) certainly increases Maeda's chances of sticking in a starting role, at least early on. Fantasy managers in mixed leagues will be avoiding the Japanese hurler, even if he wins a rotation spot, after an ugly 6.09 ERA and 1.38 WHIP with only 96 K's in 112 1/3 innings in 2024. His 7.69 K/9 mark was the worst of his career.