How Maeda's time on the IL turned his season around 

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins didn’t necessarily know what to expect when Kenta Maeda returned from another extended stint on the injured list a week and a half ago, but the veteran himself never wavered in his faith, noting after his triumphant return that he felt “back as the Kenta Maeda that everyone knows.”

The evidence continues to build that he was right after the Twins’ 9-3 win over the Royals on Tuesday at Target Field.

Maeda looked as sharp as he has since his return from Tommy John surgery Tuesday as he not only completed seven innings for the first time since the procedure, but also matched a season-high with nine strikeouts. That effort helped the Twins build on their recent run of success with another complete victory that also featured Carlos Correa’s 1,000th career hit and four RBIs from a resurgent Max Kepler.

“This was what we’re looking for; this is what we hoped to see,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “When you know you’ve got a guy that was second in the Cy Young a couple years ago coming back, that’s second in the league Cy Young-type stuff. That’s the kind of guy that we know, and we’re just looking for more of it as the season goes on, just like he is.”

It’s no secret that Maeda will primarily attack opposing lineups with his slider and splitter, and even so, the Royals had little answer, as Maeda struck out the first three and the final two batters he faced. He also induced a pair of double plays and faced the minimum in six of his seven frames.

Maeda yelled and spun off the mound following his strikeout of Kyle Isbel to finish seven innings for the first time since July 22, 2021, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits. Since his return from a nearly two-month-long stint on the IL with a triceps strain that built on his extended absence from Tommy John surgery, Maeda has allowed three earned runs in 17 innings (1.59 ERA) with 21 strikeouts and five walks.

He held the Kansas City lineup hitless until the fourth, when Bobby Witt Jr. crushed a two-run homer to cash in on a Jose Miranda error against leadoff batter Maikel Garcia -- but other than that, no Royals hitter reached second base.

“He’s always been a guy who’s just not going to give in,” Royals skipper Matt Quatraro said. “It’s going to be spin, spin, spin, occasional fastball. When he’s locating that slider down, bottom of the zone, strike-to-ball pitches, he can be really tough. You got to have discipline down.”

And just as significantly, the radar gun flashed 92.2 mph on his hardest pitch of the afternoon, a strikeout pitch to Salvador Perez in the fourth inning. That makes it two straight outings in which the fastball that struggled to touch 90 mph before this recent IL stint has blown past the 92 mph mark at least once. Maeda had attributed that to mechanical issues that bothered him in his first go-around this season but have since been resolved thanks to the time away.

“I had the time to look over my mechanics while I was on the IL,” Maeda said through interpreter Dai Sekizaki. “And now, I can concentrate on each hitter I’m facing, so that’s a plus. I can attack with confidence and not have to worry about the mechanics. That’s huge.”

So, with Maeda seamlessly stepping in for Louie Varland, the Twins’ MLB-leading rotation in Wins Above Replacement, per FanGraphs, has continued to chug relentlessly onward, as it has all season. As a result, the Twins have won four of five and the offense has finally started to come to life, spurred by its new approach and accountability among the hitters.

Byron Buxton, now in a groove after a slow start coming off the IL, homered as part of his first three-hit game of the season, while Donovan Solano cracked three extra-base hits, including a long ball. And even the pull-heavy Kepler knocked an opposite-field RBI single and crushed a three-run homer to left-center, where he rarely leaves the yard.

“It feels like we're moving as a unit more so, and feeding off each other's success,” Kepler said. “I see one guy get a knock, I see another guy steal a base, and it riles me up, gets me going. I think in the past it might have felt a little disconnected or people were out to get more individual accomplishments done. Now, it feels like we're really rooting for each other and it's a good feeling.”