Japanese right-handed starting pitcher Kenta Maeda announced on his Instagram profile on Wednesday, November 5, that he will return to play in Nippon Professional Baseball for the 2026 season.
Kenta Maeda announces he is returning to Japan to continue his career.
Maeda spent 2016-2025 in MLB with the Dodgers, Twins and Tigers. pic.twitter.com/UMebWt3tLU
— MLB (@MLB) November 6, 2025
The 37-year-old from Senboku-gun, Japan, played nine seasons in Major League Baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2016-19, the Minnesota Twins from 2020-21 and 2023, and the last two seasons from 2024-25 with the Detroit Tigers.
Maeda missed the 2022 season due to undergoing Tommy John surgery before returning to Minneapolis for the 2023 season and later signing with Detroit on a two-year, $24 million contract on November 28, 2023.
Last season in the Motor City, Maeda made seven appearances out of the bullpen and posted a 7.88 ERA, throwing eight innings, allowing nine hits, seven earned runs, one home run, six walks, eight strikeouts, and a 1.875 WHIP, prior to being designated for assignment on May 1 and later being released on May 7.
Maeda later signed with the Chicago Cubs on May 16 to a minor league contract and was assigned to Triple-A Iowa on the same day.
With Triple-A Iowa, Maeda went 3-4 and started 12 games with a 5.97 ERA, throwing 57.1 innings, allowing 54 hits, 38 earned runs, eight home runs, 25 walks, and 45 strikeouts, before being released on August 2 and later signing with the New York Yankees to a minor league contract on August 4 and being assigned on the same day to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
In Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Maeda went 3-3 with a 4.64 ERA in eight starts, throwing 42.2 innings, allowing 39 hits, 22 earned runs, five home runs, 14 walks, 38 strikeouts, and a 1.242 WHIP, prior to exploring options to return to Japan.
Maeda played eight seasons with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in NPB from 2008 until the end of the 2015 season before heading to the United States.
Maeda’s accolades in Japan consist of winning the Japanese Triple Crown in 2010, being selected five times as an NPB All-Star in 2010 and from 2012-15, winning the Best Nine Award in 2010, 2013, and 2015, the Mitsui Golden Glove Award in 2010 and from 2012–15, and the Eiji Sawamura Award in 2010 and 2015. He also led the Central League in wins in 2010 and 2015, in ERA in 2010, 2012, and 2013, in strikeouts from 2010-11, and was named the NPB All-Star Game MVP in 2012 in Game Two.
Maeda’s eight seasons in NPB consisted of 218 appearances and 217 starts with a 97-67 record and a 2.39 ERA, throwing 28 complete games over 1,509.2 innings.
In his nine seasons in the majors, Maeda posted a lifetime record of 68-56 with a 4.20 ERA, throwing 986.2 innings in 226 appearances and 172 starts, with six saves, allowing 873 hits, 460 earned runs, 142 home runs, 285 walks, 1,055 strikeouts, and a 1.174 WHIP.
Photo: Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Kenta Maeda (18) delivers against the Minnesota Twins during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)
