Soreness becomes something to expect post-surgery for Kenta Maeda

NEW YORK – Kenta Maeda has pitched professionally for 15 years, so he knows what his pitching arm and elbow are supposed to feel like one day after he pitches, and two days, and three.

And this isn't it.

"It's certainly different now than what I felt pre-surgery, especially in the elbow," Maeda said through an interpreter of his return to action this season, after undergoing ligament-replacement surgery in 2021. "That's something I've got to get used to. It's something I'll feel out over the course of the season."

Maeda is getting some extra time this week to deal with it, after the Twins canceled his scheduled start in Yankee Stadium — on the mound where his ligament finally gave way two years ago — to rest his arm.

Maeda's arm felt unusually sore and tired after each of his first two starts this year, a not-unexpected consequence of the surgery.

"It was just a general soreness that kind of lingered," Maeda said. "I guess it's part of coming off of Tommy John [surgery] to feel more soreness or lingering tightness than usual so at some point, I knew this was going to happen, [that] the team [would] give me an extra couple of days. Did I expect it to be this early? No."

He didn't feel extra fatigued as he built up his arm in spring training, Maeda said, but that wasn't a surprise, either.

"It's a difference between spring-training outings versus the actual season," he said. "There's more intensity involved, so that's something my body has to get used to."

The Twins aren't particularly worried, manager Rocco Baldelli said. They always planned to make sure Maeda has at least five days of rest between starts early in the season, and when the 35-year-old righthander reported a tired arm, the decision was easy to make.

One day after collecting his first hit and first home run in the same inning as the leadoff hitter, Edouard Julien was back in the Twins lineup — perhaps surprisingly. With lefthander Nestor Cortes on the mound for the Yankees, Julien was the lone lefthanded hitter in Baldelli's batting order.

That's quite a show of support for a rookie on his third day in the majors, right?

Well, not exactly. With Jorge Polanco and Kyle Farmer on the injured list and Donovan Solano and Willi Castro playing other positions, the only real option at second base was a couple of lefthanded hitters: Nick Gordon and Julien.

Gordon had played 12 of the Twins' first 13 games because, as Baldelli pointed out, the Twins came into Friday's game with the fewest plate appearances against lefthanders of any major league team. He and outfielder Trevor Larnach "have basically been on the field every moment of the season so far, virtually," Baldelli said. "Giving them a day off when they've played essentially every day to this point is the main reason" for Julien's start.

Gordon hasn't exactly taken advantage of all the righthanders, going just 4-for-39 to start the season. "He's hit a few balls good. He's not locked in yet at the plate, but he's competing fine," Baldelli said. "He's going to settle in and be fine, I'm sure of that."