Kenta Maeda likely woke up with one heck of a bruise Wednesday morning, but after the shot he took the previous night, he’s lucky his injury wasn’t a lot worse.
The Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander was forced to leave Tuesday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the sixth inning after a 95 mph line drive by Paul Goldschmidt nailed him just below the right knee.
Maeda was able to gather the ball and throw to first to retire Goldschmidt, but he then immediately fell to the ground in pain and had to be helped off the field by the Dodgers’ training staff.
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L.A.’s rotation has been ravaged by injury this season — four starters currently are on the disabled list — and Maeda’s appeared to be yet another major blow. Dodgers fans breathed a sigh of relief, however, when the team later announced the 28-year-old only suffered a contusion.
“What I know for sure is that it didn’t hit the bone,” Maeda told reporters through a translator after the game, via ESPN.com. “But I wasn’t able to put any strength or flex it at all, so I was a little bit in shock.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, whose team went on to beat the Diamondbacks 7-4, said he expects Maeda to make his next scheduled start.
“He’s feeling better actually now,” Roberts told reporters. “It was something with a nerve that just lit him up.”
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
