Kenta Maeda is not yet nervous about starting in the first game of the 2020 MLB playoffs, but says the butterflies will likely arrive sometime before his Minnesota Twins take the field at home on Tuesday.
The Twins will take on the Houston Astros in a pandemic-shortened best-of-three Wild Card Series, and Maeda will pitch opposite Zack Greinke in the series opener at Target Field in Minneapolis.
"I'm not nervous now but when tomorrow comes I might get more nervous than I usually do and I'll probably get more emotional," said Maeda, who pitched against the Astros in the 2017 World Series during his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers.