Tigers hoping Maeda's command rubs off on young staff

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Learning new pitchers is part of every catcher’s spring routine. But as Jake Rogers works to develop a rapport with Kenta Maeda, he has found the need to put in a little extra work to connect with his new teammate.

“I’m learning one or two words a day,” Rogers said. “Japanese school.”

Rogers has been catching Maeda’s bullpen sessions since spring camp started last week. But Wednesday presented an opportunity to call pitches against hitters as Maeda threw his first live batting practice session.

Maeda threw 20 pitches to Colt Keith, Spencer Torkelson, Javier Báez and Riley Greene, seemingly pleased with all but one -- a high cutter that frustrated him.

“He made one mistake, and he was mad at himself,” Rogers said. “But the next pitch was perfect.”

Báez had the lone hard-hit ball against Maeda, taking a high, outside fastball to the wall. But both the pitcher and his batterymate were satisfied with the day’s work.

“Javy is a great hitter,” Maeda said through an interpreter. “Whenever I faced him, I really had to be careful about my pitches, so I'm not surprised that he hit that one. If it's in a real game, I wouldn't throw a fastball there.”

Maeda was one of the first free agents to sign this winter, agreeing to a two-year, $24 million deal with Detroit on Nov. 28. The Tigers later added Jack Flaherty, bringing in a pair of veterans to lead a group of young starters that includes Tarik Skubal, Matt Manning and Casey Mize.

After missing the 2022 season, Maeda returned from Tommy John surgery and went 6-8 with a 4.23 ERA over 104 1/3 innings in 21 games (20 starts) last season. The Tigers liked his strike-throwing ability, something that meshes with one of manager A.J. Hinch’s key messages to his pitchers this spring: the importance of strike one.

“Teams and pitchers, they're just better when they get ahead in the count,” Hinch said. “We had a great exchange about first-pitch curveballs and him being able to steal a strike; then he reminded me he tried that with Torkelson [last Aug. 16] and it went in the upper deck. He’s very aware of where he’s at, and he’s also very aware of little subtle things he needs to do to continue to be successful here.”

Detroit hopes that Maeda can help stabilize a rotation that ranked ninth in the American League with a 4.31 starters' ERA. Exposing pitchers such as Skubal, Manning and Mize to a veteran with Maeda’s experience and track record for success should help the young arms continue to develop, providing a bonus to the work the 35-year-old does on the mound.

“Any guy we sign that has a ton of service time, they've been doing something really good for a while,” Skubal said. “Having that kind of veteran presence and leadership is huge for any ballclub. He doesn't have to be a vocal leader; just let me watch what you do and see what I can pick up on.”

“I think it's just trying to grab a portion of a veteran player’s routine or regimen that might help them,” Hinch said. “For Casey, it might be a split grip. For others, it might be his routine before he pitches or after he pitches. I hope for all of them, it will be his strike-throwing. He’s not going to hold a pitching clinic, and he's not going to stand in front and tell everybody how to do it. He's just going to go be a good part of a rotation, and hopefully that leads to each of our guys taking a little something from him.”

The Tigers know the type of impact Maeda can have on a club. Last season, he posted a 2.40 ERA against Detroit in three starts after his return from surgery.

“I’ve faced him a lot and he's gotten me out a lot; I’m glad to have him on our side,” Rogers said. “Catching him has been great; he’s putting pitches wherever he wants. He's got a huge arsenal of pitches. He’s one of those guys that you really enjoy catching because you can call anything at any time. He’s a pro.”

When Maeda learned that Rogers has been trying to add one or two new Japanese words to his vocabulary each day, the pitcher smiled.

“At this pace,” Maeda said, “I think the mound visits are going to be in Japanese.”