Sep 28, 2019; San Francisco, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda (18) pitches against the San Francisco Giants during the eighth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

Former Dodgers Pitcher to Leave MLB After 2025 Season

Originally posted on Los Angeles Dodgers on SI
By Gabe Smallson | Last updated Sep 2, 2025 1:00 PM ET

Former Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda announced that he will be leaving Major League Baseball at the end of this season.

After starting the season with the Detroit Tigers, Maeda tossed a 7.88 ERA across just eight innings of work out of the bullpen. He was released this past May and has bounced from the Chicago Cubs on a minor league deal to the New York Yankees' Triple-A squad, totaling a 6.25 ERA across 76.1 MiLB innings.

Maeda, however, won't be leaving the game of baseball for good, as he plans to go back to Nippon Professional Baseball in 2026.

The 37-year-old right-hander came to MLB with eight seasons of NPB play under his belt, collecting a 2.39 ERA across his time in Japan. He hurled 1,233 strikeouts to 319 walks during his tenure, going 97-67.

These numbers were enough to ink an eight-year, $25 million deal with the Dodgers ahead of the 2016 campaign that had its share of brilliance.

His first season in LA would feature his highest bWAR posted during his time in MLB (2.8) along with a third place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting, as teammate Corey Seager took home the honor.

Maeda had a 3.48 ERA across 175.2 innings of work, tossing 179 strikeouts to 50 walks on the year. This would eventually prove to be his most strikeouts and highest amount of innings pitched during a single MLB season.

The right-hander struggled in his three 2016 postseason appearances, but would get an opportunity to redeem himself the following season, this time out of the bullpen.

Maeda's ERA grew to 4.22 at the end of 2017, and his final two outings of the regular season were out of the bullpen. He would end up with a microscopic 0.84 ERA across 10.2 innings of October baseball, including 5.2 innings of World Series play in which he was charged with one earned run total.

An improved ERA in the 2018 season (3.81) led to more bullpen reps, and many productive outings in relief in October — but the back-to-back NL pennants were the height of the success Maeda would help bring to LA.

After a 4.04 ERA during the 2019 regular season, Maeda was dealt to the Minnesota Twins ahead of the 2020 campaign. The Dodgers received pitching prospect Brusdal Graterol among other prospects from the deal as Maeda would go on to finish second in Cy Young award voting during that pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Unfortunately, Maeda would never get his ERA under 4.23 at the MLB level after 2020, and later was forced to take 2022 off entirely due to Tommy John surgery.

Regardless, Maeda claimed via TV Tokyo’s “Sports Real Live” that even if he was a 20-game winner, he would have returned to Japan at the end of 2025 to be closer to family and have more stability for his loved ones.