Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Kenta Maeda got some advice from an old friend, and former teammate in starting pitcher Kris Johnson (Hiroshima Toyo Carp’s ace, and also the second born foreign player to win the prestigous Sawamura award) via Smartphone video chat just this last March regarding about the cutter, Maeda’s new pitch this year, according to today’s recent report.

Kenta Maeda admired Kris Johnson’s pitches, most notably his finisher pitch, the cut fastball (as he went 14-7 with an ERA of 1.85 in 2015, then 15-7 with an ERA 2.15 just last season) when they were still teammates. Maeda asked him for some advice and feedback sometime in March about the pitch… during their video chat, Kris Johnson encouraged Maeda to use his cutter like he used to do during his time in Japan and be more confident about it for him to be effective for the upcoming season in the Majors, leading to the addition of a new pitch.

Kenta Maeda, even with 6 kinds of different pitches now in his arsenal (4-seamer, slider, curve, changeup, two-seamer, and the cutter), his pitches thrown using the new cut fastball ranked just second to last compared to his other pitches so far this season.

203 pitches thrown using the 4-Seamer (opp batting .236)

(opp batting .236) 180 pitches thrown using the Slider (opp batting .208)

(opp batting .208) 86 pitches thrown using the Curveball (opp batting .625)

(opp batting .625) 82 pitches thrown using the Changeup (opp batting .227)

(opp batting .227) 29 pitches thrown using the Cutter (opp batting .250)

thrown using the (opp batting .250) 22 pitches thrown using the 2-Seamer (opp batting .230)

Right-handed pitcher Kenta Maeda currently has a record of 3-2 with an ERA of 5.03 in 7 starts (39.1 innings pitched), along with a K/BB ratio of 40/9 in the year.