What happened in 2016: Despite initial worries about former Japanese pitching star Kenta Maeda‘s health, the 28-year old MLB rookie was the most reliable Dodgers’ starting pitcher last season.
Maeda’s transition from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp for eight seasons, to the MLB was successfully seamless. He was the only Dodgers starter to remain healthy the entire season. His incentive-laden eight-year, $25 million contract, an extremely team-friendly deal, has been a win-win for the Dodgers and Maeda so far. He led the team in starts (32), innings (175 2/3) and strikeouts (179) in a year where the team sustained a historic number of injuries including one to their ace Clayton Kershaw.