Chicago — It looks a Power Rangers figurine. It sat on the top shelf of Kenta Maeda’s locker in Lakeland and it was there again in his locker inside the visitor’s clubhouse at Guaranteed Rate Field Thursday.
What the heck is that?
“It’s like a superhero thing in Japan,” said Daichi Sekizaki, Maeda’s interpreter. “It’s something he bought when he was going through a slump last year and since then he picked up good luck from it. So he’s keeping it.”
Hey, if you think a superhero action figure is bringing you luck, it is. But what Maeda is hoping for more than luck when he makes his Tigers debut Saturday afternoon against the White Sox is warmth. The forecast is for windy but reasonable conditions (56 degrees and clear) by game time.
“I think I’m very well prepared for the season,” Maeda said. “We’ve checked all the boxes. But it’s pretty cold out there.”
Having pitched three seasons in Minnesota (2020, 2021 and 2023), you’d think he might’ve built up some tolerance to the chill.
“I can never get used to that,” he said. “It’s not easy to pitch in cold, let alone get used to it.”
He hasn’t pitched many cold-weather games the last few years. It was a crisp 50 degrees last April 26 when Maeda was tagged for 10 runs in three-plus innings by the Yankees at Target Field. That might’ve been when the action figure was purchased.
“The shapes of the breaking balls change a lot with the weather,” he said. “That’s something I have to keep on my mind.”
Maeda, who turns 36 on April 11 and signed a two-year, $24 million contract with the Tigers at the end of November, is coming off an orderly and efficient spring. He used all five of his starts to gradually build his arm strength and velocity as well as the sharpness of his elite secondary mix.
His ability to manipulate the speeds and shapes of his slider and splitter, especially, are vital to his success.
“The most important thing is to stay healthy throughout the spring to be ready for Opening Day,” he said. “And I’m here today. That’s a good sign. Secondly, just to be a part of the Tigers organization, getting familiar with the team, the guys — I think I checked those boxes, as well.”
Maeda has been an energetic and jovial presence amongst his much younger teammates. He’s also been open and willing to share the pitching wisdom he’s gained in 16 years in the profession. Several pitchers have picked his brain about how he grips, throws and uses his splitter.
“I think there is very good chemistry built within the clubhouse,” he said. “Everyone, from the front office and down, I think everyone gets along really well. I really like the atmosphere here.”
It was important, too, he said, that he was able to sign early in the offseason, both to get himself settled and acclimated and to avoid the free agency stress that occurred for several big-name starting pitchers through February and into March.
“There was a lot of positives to signing early,” Maeda said. “Mental preparedness. I was ready from Day 1 in spring training and ready to be part of this team from the get-go. That’s huge.”
This will be Maeda’s seventh career start at Guaranteed Rate Field. He’s 3-1 with a 4.83 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Most of the damage in those starts came off home runs. He’s allowed six in 31⅔ innings.
“I’m very excited to make my first start as a Tiger,” he said. “We worked hard for this season. I can’t wait to start a winning season as a Tiger.”
Heck of a debut
Speaking of checking boxes, Tigers rookie second baseman Colt Keith checked off a bunch of firsts on Thursday — first big-league game, first hit, first win.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I went out there and it was just overwhelming with all the people and how big the stadium was. After I got up and had my first at-bat, I settled in and it felt like any other game.”
His base hit was a well-placed infield roller that deflected off the glove of second baseman Nicky Lopez. Lopez had to rush the play because Keith was flying down the line at a rate of 29.2 feet per second, which according to Statcast is elite sprint speed.
“That was probably my fastest home-to-first all year,” Keith said. “I told you guys I could run (laughing). Nobody believed me.”
The baseball was retrieved and returned to him, but he wouldn’t share the details of the traditional “beer shower” celebration in the clubhouse.
“All the hard work and everything paid off today,” Keith said. “There’s a lot more work to do and more goals down the road.”
Straight nasty
By the time right-hander Jason Foley arrived on the mound with one out in the ninth inning, the beleaguered White Sox hitters had already had to deal with the beast that is lefty Tarik Skubal for six innings — 97- and 98-mph heaters on a cold day, two-seamers on the hands, plus a crafty changeup for those seven right-handed hitters and a few sliders and knuckle-curves to keep everyone honest.
The three hitters in the middle of the order got a taste of right-hander Shelby Miller’s high-extension heater and bullet slider (three straight outs, seven pitches) in the seventh. Andrew Vaughn’s at-bat ended with a pitch-clock violation for strike three — talk about being flummoxed.
The next four hitters had to deal with rejuvenated lefty Andrew Chafin and his sinker-slider combination. He blew through those four hitters in 12 pitches, getting five whiffs on eight swings.
So, with the Tigers up 1-0, and the White Sox down to their last two outs, No. 2 hitter Yoan Moncada and No. 3 hitter Luis Robert Jr. had to deal with Foley and his snarling, triple-digit power sinker.
“That’s unfair,” catcher Jake Rogers said. “That super sinker. It’s a nightmare for right-handed hitters.”
It was a nightmare for switch-hitting Moncada, too. Batting left-handed for the first time in the game, Moncada fell into a 1-2 hole chasing one of the two sliders he saw from Foley. He battled for seven pitches, but he had no answer for the 100.2-mph sinker that Foley stuck on the inner-third of the plate. Called strike three.
Foley didn’t give Roberts a chance to breathe. Four straight sinkers: 99.3 mph (called strike one), 99.4 (ball), 101.2 (swinging strike two), 100.7 (swinging strike three, thanks for coming).
“He was great,” Rogers said. “He did his job, did his thing. It lined up perfectly.”
@cmccosky
Tigers at White Sox
▶ First pitch: 2:10 p.m. Saturday, Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago
▶ TV/radio: BSD/97.1
SCOUTING REPORT
▶ RHP Kenta Maeda, Tigers (season debut): There is a youthfulness about him that belies his age (turns 36 on April 11) and experience (this is his 16th season of professional baseball) and helped him fit in seamlessly with a much younger clubhouse. Importantly, he said he’s as healthy as he has been since undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the 2022 season. He is a master in the art of pitching with the way he can spot his fastball and command the various shapes and speeds of his secondary mix.
▶ RHP Michael Soroka, White Sox (season debut): What a journey. After an All-Star rookie season with the Braves in 2019, he tore his right Achilles tendon twice and missed all of 2021 and 2022 and was limited to 32 innings last year. Traded to the White Sox for reliever Aaron Bummer this offseason, he had a healthy and productive spring, allowing just two earned runs with 17 strikeouts in 13⅔ innings.
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