It’s not Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw, but Shelby Miller and Kenta Maeda serve as an intriguing fallback option with the Arizona Diamondbacks facing the Los Angeles Dodgers at Camelback Ranch on Saturday afternoon.
Not only are Maeda and Miller making their respective 2016 Spring Training debuts, it’s also their first start with a new club. Both pitchers are expected to throw two innings, or the equivalent of it.
Maeda signed an eight-year, $25 million contract with the Dodgers in the offseason after spending the past eight seasons pitching in Japan.
At the time of signing, the right-hander acknowledged a physical revealed “irregularities” were found in his elbow, which led to a lower-than-expected guaranteed salary.
However, both Maeda and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman expressed confidence health won’t be an issue moving forward.
He was 97-67 with a 2.39 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and averaged 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings over his career with the Hiroshima Carp. Maeda, who will turn 28 years old on April 11, twice won the Sawamura Award — Japan’s equivalent to the Cy Young.
Outside of his health, a significant question Maeda faces is how he’ll adjust to handling the load of Major-League pitcher. He’s using the spring to experiment with various routines and intends to have one in place by the regular season.
As for Miller, he’s factors prominently into the Diamondbacks’ all-in philosophy for 2016. He was acquired shortly after Arizona shockingly signed Greinke to a six-year, $206.5 million contract.
Somewhat of a rising power in the National League West, the Diamondbacks have been picked by some to win the division. In 33 starts with the Atlanta Braves last season, Miller went 6-17 with a 3.02 ERA, 3.45 FIP and 1.25 WHIP.
He spent the 2012-14 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. Last spring, Miller was 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA, 1.20 WHIP in six starts. He faces a Dodgers lineup with Howie Kendrick back at second base and batting leadoff after receiving Friday’s game off.
Kendrick was 0-for-1, but drew a walk and scored a run in the Dodgers’ Cactus League opener on Thursday. Adrian Gonzalez makes his spring debut one game later than expected.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts initially planned to start the first baseman against the Texas Rangers, but elected not to so as not to potentially re-aggravate Gonzalez’s neck issue on the bus ride to Surprise Stadium.
Gonzalez is a career 4-for-7 with one home run and four RBIs against Miller. Alex Guerrero was slated to make his third consecutive start of the spring, but was scratched from the lineup due to left knee soreness. He’s replaced by Shawn Zarraga as designated hitter.
The Dodgers enter 1-0-1, coming off a tie with the Texas Rangers. Arizona is 2-1, fresh off a win against the Oakland Athletics in which Greinke had a pair of strikeouts in two scoreless innings. Saturday’s game is sold out.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Howie Kendrick
LF: Andre Ethier
RF: Yasiel Puig
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
C: Yasmani Grandal
SS: Corey Seager
DH: Shawn Zarraga
3B: Elian Herrera
CF: Corey Brown
Diamondbacks lineup:
SS: Nick Ahmed
DH: Jake Lamb
2B: Phil Gosselin
RF: David Peralta
LF: Rickie Weeks
3B: Brandon Drury
C: Chris Hermann
1B: Kyle Jensen
CF: Jason Bourgeois
