Dodgers’ Kenta Maeda unable to ‘execute my plan’

3:21 AM ET

LOS ANGELES — Back when he was shutting out opponents and cracking home runs, Kenta Maeda was the talk of baseball. Suddenly he is becoming a concern of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The rookie right-hander lasted just four innings against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday, giving up four runs on five hits in an eventual 7-6 Dodgers defeat. It was the shortest outing of his brief major league career by innings and pitches (73). And somewhere therein might tell a little bit of the tale.

Maeda, who pitched just once a week when he was a professional in Japan for eight seasons, is adjusting to a new five-day schedule in Major League Baseball, and that short window could be causing an issue.

Maeda is also throwing more sliders than fastballs of late, a possible sign that he is not recovering quickly from his previous start. Both manager Dave Roberts and Maeda deny that the shorter pitching window is a hindrance, but it is not like they would want to advertise it if it was.

“I think that just talking to him he says physically he feels fine,” Roberts said. “That might be something down the road, but right now it’s not too much of a concern. I think for me, it’s just more of utilizing his fastball a little more and getting ahead of hitters and not relying so heavily on …

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