Maeda finding his footing after recent struggles

ANAHEIM -- Tigers manager A.J. Hinch mentioned pregame that he wanted to see more efficiency from right-hander Kenta Maeda after his recent struggles on the mound. Friday night against the Angels seemed a step in the right direction.

Early on it looked as though Maeda's slump (7 runs allowed on 13 hits over 9.2 innings in his last two starts) would continue. He tossed a 20-pitch first inning starting off with a single by Nolan Schanuel and a towering two-run home run from Luis Rengifo. But Maeda appeared to have settled in after, shutting out the Angels offense while allowing four hits with four strikeouts and just one walk from that point on.

“After getting hit in the first, I mean, he did a really good job of just pitching around a couple of issues,” Hinch said after the Tigers’ 5-2 loss. “... You had a few things he had to pitch through and make some big pitches.”

Whether it was Maeda getting Mickey Moniak to chase a splitter below the zone for a strikeout to get out of a jam with two runners on base in the 4th inning or giving up a leadoff single to Luis Guillorme in the 3rd and catching him stealing while striking out the very next batter, Maeda looked like he was able to get out of anything on the mound.

“The quality of pitches I’m making have gotten better, as well as the velocity and just being able to navigate through even with runners on,” Maeda said through his interpreter, Dai Sekizaki. “Too often this season, I’ve been letting runners come back home. But today, I was able to strand a lot of runners, which led to success.”

Offensively, the Tigers were able to back Maeda up by flashing some discipline in the top of 3rd. They tied the game by drawing four consecutive two-out walks from Halos starter Zach Plesac. Plesac was pulled in favor of right-handed reliever José Marte, who got Colt Keith to ground out to end the inning and strand the bases loaded.

With the knowledge that he wasn’t trailing anymore, Maeda kept rolling until the bottom of the 6th inning, when it looked like he took a comebacker off his hip from Guillorme. Guillorme reached first while Maeda fell to the ground. He exited the game shortly after. Maeda and Hinch mentioned that he was fine after the game. The ball bounced off the back heel of his glove and he was being pulled ahead of the next batter for matchup reasons, not because of an injury.

“I mean, I wasn’t surprised,” Maeda said. “But it would’ve been nice if I could’ve made that play.”

Despite the team’s loss and the ball hitting him, Maeda may have found something on Friday night. Maybe this is a reach, but maybe it had something to do with his return to Southern California, where he spent the first four years of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But all that aside, Hinch has seen Maeda at his best and knows what he’s capable of. That’s why he hasn’t lost faith in the 36-year-old.

“We’re all aware of how he pitched in June and July last year,” Hinch said. “I think we should expect [his pitches] to get better and better as the year goes. And certainly, he can build off a lot of what he did right.”