Kenta Maeda may be pitching to stay in the rotation as Dodgers face Phillies

Kenta Maeda is set to make his fifth start of the 2017 season on Friday at Dodger Stadium. He’s facing the Phillies, a team with a winning record in April but few legitimate threats in the lineup. It would behoove Maeda to pitch well, if he wants to remain in the Dodgers rotation.

Through four outings this season, Maeda has looked increasingly flammable, prone to giving up extra-base hits on poorly located fastballs up in the strike zone. He yielded four homers in his last start, in Arizona. He has an 8.05 earned-run average. The team considered skipping him on this turn through the rotation, before deciding to stick with him.

The Dodgers have made a lengthy, if relatively inexpensive, investment in Maeda. He is under contract through 2023. So it is in the organization’s best interest for Maeda to perform. Maeda told Japanese reporters last weekend about his missing confidence. He may need to spend time in the minors to find it.

With the arrival of Julio Urias, the team has six pitchers in the starting rotation. Alex Wood earned another start with six one-hit innings earlier this week. Clayton Kershaw, Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu aren’t going anywhere. Manager Dave Roberts does not want to use a six-man rotation, mostly because the team wouldn’t want to interrupt the routines of Kershaw and McCarthy.

Something has to give. It could be Maeda.

Here are the matchups for this weekend at Dodger Stadium:

FRIDAY: RHP Kenta Maeda (1-2, 8.05 ERA) vs. RHP Jerad Eickhoff (0-1, 2.55 ERA)

SATURDAY: RHP Brandon McCarthy (3-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. RHP Zach Eflin (0-2, 2.25 ERA).

SUNDAY: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (0-4, 4.64 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Pivetta (major-league debut)