Maeda held the Diamondbacks to a single run on four hits and a walk while striking out six over five innings in a no-decision Tuesday.
Over his last 10 appearances (eight starts), Maeda has put up a 2.08 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 43:9 K:BB over 47.2 innings, and yet it's been all he can do just to cling to a rotation spot. Part of that is his own fault, as despite the sparkling stats, he's had a ton of trouble pitching deep into games -- he's exceeded five innings just twice in that span, and it took him 92 pitches to complete Tuesday's outing. When Clayton Kershaw (back) returns, someone's going to get the boot from the Dodgers' starting five, but even with his relative inability to pitch deep into games, the Japanese righty's stats have made a strong argument that it shouldn't be him. His next turn will come Sunday at home against San Diego.