Los Angeles Dodgers: Kenta Maeda looks for first win since May

Kenta Maeda has not been the winning pitcher in a game since the month of May and the Los Angeles Dodgers look to change that on Saturday night.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have one of the best starting rotations in all of baseball but there has been one weak point that has stood out over the last two months: Kenta Maeda.

Kenta Maeda is still a very solid pitcher and is one that would be at 90 percent of the league’s third-best pitcher in a rotation. When he is on, Maeda’s mixing of speeds and nasty change-up can be baffling to hit.

However, when his ball does not have as much depth and he is not finding his precise spots it can be an issue. That is how it has been since the start of June.

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The last time that Maeda was on the winning side of a decision was on May 31. Not counting the weird two-inning start and then relief appearance that followed, the Dodgers are 3-7 since May 31. In that time, Maeda has a 5.26 ERA.

He has had some good starts and was just unlucky with the results. He has gone seven or more innings allowing three runs or fewer twice in this span, both of which he did not get the decision for.

That shows that wins are a flawed stat but for those two seven-inning starts he also has five starts (not counting the rain delay) in which he went fewer than five innings.

Maeda’s mediocrity is likely spelling him to go back to the bullpen in the near future once the pitching staff gets healthy to prepare for October. This also gives young right-hander Dustin May a chance to get some reps in before October.

Regardless, Maeda is looking for his first win since May and the Los Angeles Dodgers are looking to respond after a tough extra-inning loss in which the offense really was not great.

As part of our Los Angeles Dodgers Beat the Streak series, this is who I think can get at least one base hit to help Maeda on Saturday.

Jason’s pick (Current streak: 0): Kristopher Negron

The Dodgers only had two hits last night and I did not pick Will Smith or Corey Seager, so my streak unfortunately resets. Tonight the Dodgers are facing another southpaw in Alex Young, so we need to pick another righty.

Instead of A.J. Pollock, though, I am going to go with the newest Dodger, who has been tearing it up in LA, in Kristopher Negron.

I am going to be completely honest here. I pride myself in knowing a lot about baseball outside of the Los Angeles Dodgers. That being said, I had never heard of Kristopher Negron before he was a Dodger. But can you blame me? He was hitting .217 with Seattle and had only 140 games played across eight years.

However, Negron has a .333 batting average since coming to the Dodgers and has been able to give a team that is really banged up right now some much-needed offensive help.

I still do not know if I agree with batting him third in the lineup, but hey, he has been consistent thus far with the Dodgers and is going to look to continue that on Saturday.