Although the autographs were exposed to opponent players, there is a player who showed perfect pitching.스포츠토토 Japanese pitcher Kenta Maeda (35, Minnesota Twins) is the main character.
Maeda started on the 3rd (Korean time) before the Tampa Bay Rays in the ‘2023 Major League Baseball Exhibition’ held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. In his second exhibition game appearance, he showed excellent pitching with 2 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts and no run in 2 innings.
After conquering Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), Maeda threw a challenge to the major leagues through the posting system (private competitive bidding) with the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the 2016 season. From the first year of his big league debut, he drew attention by recording 16 wins. Since then, he has consistently played an active part in the starting rotation.
Last year, Maeda was somewhat sluggish. His cause was his elbow injury. When he failed to show his mettle, he decided to have elbow surgery and was removed from the mound in August 2021. And he came back healthy and stood on the mound once again in February 2023. It is a comeback after 17 months.
Maeda took the mound against Tampa Bay on the 26th of last month and threw one inning to finish warming up once. He gradually increases his innings and improves his physical condition.
On the 3rd, a skit was directed to learn about Maeda’s physical condition and physical condition. Maeda’s autograph was exposed to opposing hitters when the ‘pitchcom’, a device used by pitchers and catchers to prevent sign stealing, caused a problem.
Reporter Park Do-hyeong of ‘MLB.com’, who is in charge of Minnesota, said on personal SNS on the 3rd, “Too loud sound came out of the pitch com equipment worn by catcher Tony Walters (31), who worked with Maeda. I knew what kind of ball I was going to throw before I did it. Still, it was scoreless in two innings.”
“After the second inning, the referee notified Minnesota of this, and the equipment was adjusted afterwards. Even Maeda did not know about it. After the game, Minnesota coach Rocco Boldelli (42) said, ‘What happened in April (after the season opened) I’m glad it’s not,” he added, smiling.
It was a somewhat embarrassing scene, but it was the moment when Maeda’s pitching, which the opponent knew and could not easily capture, showed the light even more. I wonder what kind of pitching Maeda will show in 2023 after recovering from an injury.