The New York Mets must rely on Jose Quintana and others as Kodai Senga has been moved to the 60-day injured list. The transfer indicates the end of any possibility of Senga returning to action before the end of April. The 2023 Rookie of the Year finalist has been sidelined since late in spring training due to a posterior capsule strain. He began to play catch on back-to-back days at the beginning of April, which manager Carlos Mendoza called at the time, “a big deal.”
“For him to go up there and play catch on back-to-back days is a pretty big step for him,” Mendoza said on April 1. Senga came out of that back-to-back session feeling good as Mendoza added that he is “slowly heading in the right direction.”
His 60 days are retroactive to his original IL placement. The earliest he can return is in late May.
Kodai Senga Placed on 60-Day IL
The move came Wednesday as the Mets called up left-hander Tyler Jay. To make room for Jay on the 40-man roster, Dedniel Núñez was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. Senga, 31, was 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts against 77 walks in 166 1/3 innings last season. It was his first year in the majors after an 11-year career in Japan’s NPB. Even with Senga out, the Mets rotation has fared well. Heading into Wednesday’s games, the Mets starting pitchers have a 3.33 ERA. That’s good for a ninth-place tie in the majors.
Breaking Down the Mets Rotation Depth
The current Mets rotation includes Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, Adrian Houser and Quintana. The four have been solid with respectable starts in their first two rotation turns. Manaea has been the standout, who is picking up where he left off from last September. Dating to the end of his San Francisco Giants tenure, the left-hander is 3-1 with a 1.80 ERA. His sweeper and changeup have whiff rates above 50 percent. With these improvements, Manaea has been a bargain signing for the Mets.
Houser has given not-so-great results, allowing six consecutive hits on 14 pitches to open the bottom of the third inning in Atlanta on Tuesday. It’s hard to see them lose their role in the rotation as New York will continue to rely on them every five days until another injured pitcher returns to the club.
The Depth Behind the Rotation
José Buttó will return to the rotation on Saturday. He’s already been optioned by the Mets before the start of the season, which made him ineligible for an immediate recall and forced them to sign Julio Teheran. With Teheran out of the fold, Butto can provide the help needed behind the starting rotation. He owns a 2.61 ERA over his past 11 outings. As for Joey Lucchesi, he showed poor results in spring training. However, he’s improving at Triple-A since the start of the season. He is below Butto on the depth chart for the time being.
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