New York Mets pitcher Kodai Senga has yet to play this year as he works his way back from a strained shoulder capsule, and he raised some eyebrows Monday with some cryptic comments about the rehab process.
Senga suggested that mistakes had been made in the rehab process, and that in his view, certain aspects may have been rushed to try to get him back on the field. He said he was “not overly surprised” at his relative lack of progress in light of how the process has gone.
“I think that I understand my body well, and I think things could have gone better,” Senga said on Monday through an interpreter, via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. “I’m not overly surprised at where I am currently. I think I could have fixed some things.
“I think the point is that in order to get back to 100 percent, you have to hit each benchmark. You have to be at 100 percent at each benchmark to get to the ultimate 100 percent. That’s what I mean by that.”
The comments will bolster speculation that Senga and the Mets have not been on the same page with regard to his rehab process, though manager Carlos Mendoza denied that on Monday. Japanese pitchers come up in a culture that largely allows them to dictate their own recovery progress, and Senga has slowed things down at times to work on issues like his mechanics.
Senga was shut down in spring training, but the injury did not sound long-term. Now, at the end of May, he does not even appear close to a rehab stint, so he and the Mets might have some questions to answer.
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