The Dodgers will place right-hander Kenta Maeda on the 10-day IL before tomorrow’s game, according to Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Maeda’s placement caps off a busy day of roster-shuffling for the Dodgers, as the team also activated lefty Caleb Ferguson from the IL and sent catcher Rocky Gale and right-hander J.T. Chargois to Triple-A. Prior to tomorrow’s game, the Dodgers will also call up utilityman Matt Beaty from Triple-A and select the contract of outfielder Kyle Garlick.
Maeda fouled a ball off his thigh in last night’s game, and the Dodgers are thusly putting him on the IL “as a precaution,” Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets. Since the Dodgers have two off-days next week, it looks like Maeda will miss one start at the most while he recovers from what looks like a minor injury.
Los Angeles has deployed Maeda exclusively as a starting pitcher in 2019, and the righty has delivered his usual strong results. Though nine starts and 51 1/3 innings, Maeda has a 3.51 ERA, 9.1 K/9, and 2.60 K/BB rate, numbers that are largely backed up by advanced metrics. Maeda is inducing soft contact on 27% of his batted balls this season, the second-highest total of any qualified starter in the game.
A 28th-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2015 draft, Garlick will get his first MLB exposure after posting a 1.002 OPS over 136 PA for Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. The 27-year-old Garlick has a .283/.341/.519 slash line through 1678 career minor league plate appearances.
padresfan619 2
he didn’t looked injured after striking out 12 Padres last night. He was on point making good pitches.
lowtalker1
He also took way too long between innings to come back out.
BlueSkyLA
In the two innings when he spent a lot of time on the base-paths. Nothing unusual about that.
Koamalu
3 times he came back late and once he was NOT on base. He was in the On Deck circle and took 2 extra MINUTES to get to the mound.
Being on base is not an excuse.
BlueSkyLA
I was at that game, so I know what went on, probably more than you do, because I was watching the outfield clock.
marijuasher
You always know much more than anybody else does. That’s what’s so great about you, BS.
juanpaolo
Because 1 time he was on the bases all inning long and the second time hemade the third out..we are starting with our I.L. crap again..case Ferguson last week when we needed a roster spot
2bbige
He did foul a ball of inside of left thigh… on tv saw him looking @w/coaches between innings in dugout. Didnt look serious but imagine it was a good sized strawberry
weaselpuppy
Lychee, not strawberry.
BlueSkyLA
It will certainly be interesting to find out exactly what is ailing Maeda after his 12-SO performance, hitting two base hits, and driving in two RBIs in last night’s game. (A hint: the Dodgers had two days off this week, and two more next week.)
Matt Beaty is being called back up the minimum ten days after being sent down for Travis d’Arnaud? What a surprise!
itsgood2btheking
Lol. You’re still stuck on this? Gotta love the hill some guys choose to die on. All this moaning from you over Beatty’s shot being delayed 10 days? Seriously? Lol
As your lawyer…I advise you to get over it and grab some perspective bud. Friedman & co have built a great roster and they’ve accumulated plenty of assets to use to fill any weaknesses that arise going forward in 2019.
And yet you still can’t read a dodger article without crying about how ridiculous the d’arnaud move was? Too effing funny
BlueSkyLA
Not stuck, just proven right. Obviously. Some moves are good, some are not. Helps to be able to tell the difference. Some of us can, even if you can’t.
All that other jazz is just a bunch of nonsense. I advise you to find a new speech writer.
itsgood2btheking
You have a total lack of perspective bud.
Perspective, as in you have literally been crying about this move for a couple of weeks as if it hurt our big picture in the slightest.
Let me let you in on a little secret. It’s not about telling the difference between good or bad on this move. It’s that no one in their right mind cares about the Dodgers missing on d’arnaud. No one. They took a chance and missed. It happens and it cost absolutely nothing to our big picture.
marijuasher
It bears repeating, because apparently you need it repeated, you lost your crap about the 25th spot on a roster. A spot that cost the team minimum in terms of ML pay. A spot that meant nothing to anybody but you and Matt Beaty who now is back with the ballclub.
Only in your mind are you a winner about absolutely nothing. Good on you, BS.
Whee!!
Yort
BS sounds awfully entitled
Cam
Even if you’re right, you don’t have the right to be so condescending. It’s a really bad habit of yours.
Roxman
Here they go again. Manipulating the system.
em650r
What wrong with getting the a week off?
You do that at your work
Sadler
I’m sure the guys with appearance clauses in their contract have plenty of reason to be upset.
kenleyfornia2
You realize all injuries need to be proven to MLB first?
Senioreditor
Ya right
bush1
If the player is on board with it, then there’s no way MLB can prove anything about a “bruise”. It’s roster manipulation for sure.
kenleyfornia2
He has been flat out dominant in his last 2 starts. Im sure they just rushed to get him on the DL off 1 shutouts
kenleyfornia2
2 shutouts*
BlueSkyLA
His next start would be an off day.
aaronbj
Never heard that mlb had to know about injuries first! When or where is that stated?
getright11
You get so butthurt everytime someone says anything “negative” about the Dodgers. Cracks me up.
kenleyfornia2
Nah its more of the fact you’re a degenerate. As you can tell the Dodgers are my favorite team so I engage more when its a Dodgers topic. If it cracks you up a fan of team X comments on team X the most you have a weired mental situation going on. If you dont like what I am saying tell me why I am wrong or move on. No one like a weirdo keeping tabs on people its just creepy
marijuasher
You mean the Dodgers invested time and money to have the best possible 40 man roster in the Major Leagues? How unfair!
PhilliesBob1980
This is yet another reason why pitchers shouldn’t hit. This is blatant roster manipulation. They use a supposed injury to give him a vacation.
BlueSkyLA
That’s a funny idea, especially under the circumstances.
bush1
He’s not even hurt. It’s roster manipulation. So him hitting isn’t the issue.
aaronbj
PhilliesBob why you upset? You upset because the pitchers on the Phillies can’t hit!
PhilliesBob1980
No, no one can hit. Maeda has more hits this week than superboy.
PhilliesBob1980
No one can. I would take Maeda over Harper at this point. When was the last time he had two hits and two rbis in the same game. More point is that this just gives teams another excuse to give a pitcher a fake injury.
johnrealtime
The pro DH crowd is really grasping for straws if they are blaming fake IL stints on pitcher hitting. If the dodgers wanted to do that, they would do it regardless of his hitting
laswagn
This tool is at the Phillies disposal too. but after the debacle the Harper signing is turning into, you can tell there isn’t much smarts going on in the Phillies front office.
Zerbs63
He had two hits and knocked in the ONLY two runs of the game
Sadler
I can’t wait until they go back to the 15-day DL. I’d probably rather it be the old 21-day one though.
jorge78
I could see where the foul ball of his thigh didn’t affect him until after the game when his adrenaline wore off…..
disqus_g3cAw8QJKq
Yeah I’ve woken up the next day with a bad bruise that wasn’t there the night before. The accumulation of blood can be painful and take days to get right.
That said, LAD are open about using the IL as a taxi squad device. Who cares? It’s available to every team.
bush1
Yeah it’s 100% roster manipulation. No doubt about it.
fox471 Dave
Ok, got it.
bush1
This is such B.S. Roster manipulation at its finest. He’s obviously not hurt at all
kenleyfornia2
Yes they manipulate the roster to not have the guy who had finally got on track after pitching with a 5 ERA all season
johnrealtime
Opens up a roster spot and it only pushes Maeda’s start back 3 days. He hasn’t pitched a ton of innings the last few years, it is a good and easy way to keep his innings down. Put the homerism aside and look at it objectively
bush1
Exactly. I’m not even bashing the Dodgers at all. They’re doing what’s best for their team. But it is so funny that a fan of theirs has to come out and rant about about how suddenly “on track” he is as a reason the Dodgers are innocent. It’s clearly roster manipulation. It just looks silly to argue otherwise.
laswagn
so? are you going to go tell on the Dodgers 🙁
marijuasher
Nice to know a Chicago Cub fan doctor can diagnose an LA Dodgers pitcher from across the Internet and discover the conspiracy to hold back all other National League ballclubs.
What neat powers you possess!
bdvl83
Is there different IL rules for the Dodgers or could every team do this??
johnrealtime
The dodgers just have the pitching depth to do it. Not every team can afford the dodgers roster and resources tho
BlueSkyLA
Somewhat true, but the other and even more important reality to a move like this is that the Dodgers are faced with the unusual situation of four off-days in two weeks. This calls for looking ahead on that schedule and the matchups and deciding who they’d prefer to skip in the rotation. Since Maeda’s next scheduled start would be on an off-day, he can be skipped without having to rely on any depth. Any team with five starters could do the same. The other factor that everyone is I guess being too polite to mention is the unusual structure of Maeda’s contract gives the Dodgers financial reasons to pick him as the starter to miss a game in a week when they won’t need five starters.
marijuasher
True, not every team can pocket a $2 billion TV deal. Also true, not every team is willing to invest their TV money into the best possible roster. And also, also true, the Dodgers don’t go after free agents, pay their players well, have a number of home grown talent, and can somehow fix players so their abilities improve.
But the biggest truth is that fans who hate the Dodgers will come up with any conspiracy to whine and complain about the Dodgers. Fun!
laswagn
Beautifully put! Especially the investing part. Same could be said about those teams that receive compensation for big market teams going over luxury tax. they all just pocket the money instead of investing.
weaselpuppy
Fire up Ross Stripling!
DarkSide830
who cares if its roster manipulation. just deal with it, you’ll all live.