Mets make shocking Kodai Senga decision amid struggles

The New York Mets announced Friday that right-hander Kodai Senga has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. Catcher Francisco Alvarez has been reinstated from the injured list. New York also optioned catcher Hayden Senger and activated righty Wander Suero, whom they claimed off waivers Thursday.

Senga’s five-year, $75M contract stipulated that he needed to consent to being optioned at any point, meaning he gave his approval for the move. It’s obviously a bit surprising at first glance to see a former Rookie of the Year runner-up with a 3.02 ERA optioned to Triple-A, but the Mets have been mulling this move in recent weeks as Senga’s struggles have mounted. He’s pitched to a bleak 6.56 ERA over his past eight starts and lasted only 35 2/3 innings in that time. He’ll bite the bullet and head to the minors as he looks to get back on track before the Mets’ overwhelmingly likely trip to the postseason.

SNY’s Andy Martino reports that the decision to option Senga doesn’t appear to have strained the relationship between player and team. He was included in multiple discussions on the possibility and ultimately “felt respected by the process and consented without issue,” per Martino.

The demotion for Senga coincides with the expected promotion for pitching prospect Brandon Sproat, who’ll reportedly make his major league debut when he starts Sunday’s game against the Reds. He’ll join a youth movement in a rotation that currently includes fellow top prospects Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong. That trio of rookies will join David Peterson, Clay Holmes and the also-struggling Sean Manaea as the Mets’ starters for the time being.

Senga has to spend at least 15 days in the minors and can only be recalled sooner if it’s to replace an injured player on the roster. The Mets surely want him to get multiple Triple-A starts to try to get back on track anyhow, but his results in Syracuse will determine whether he’s back to rejoin the rotation in the final week or so of the regular season — and in the playoffs.

While the recent struggles are notable, it bears mentioning that Senga started the 2025 campaign in excellent fashion. Through his first 13 starts, he posted an exceptional 1.47 earned run average, albeit with less-impressive rate stats (23.9% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate) and some more skeptical grades from metrics like SIERA (4.28) and FIP (3.25). A hamstring strain sent Senga to the injured list in mid-June, and while he tossed four shutout innings in his return to the big leagues just under one month later, his struggles began immediately thereafter.

If Senga were still feeling the effects of that hamstring injury, he’d likely have been placed on the injured list rather than optioned. However, it’s possible that he developed some bad mechanical habits while compensating for that injury. He’s displayed uncharacteristically poor command since the All-Star break, walking 13% of his opponents (plus another two plunked batters) and yielding an average of 2.02 homers per nine innings pitched. Before his hamstring injury, he’d walked 10.7% of his career opponents and surrendered just 0.81 homers per nine frames.

There are no real service time or salary implications with Senga’s demotion. He’s guaranteed the full freight of that $75M sum regardless, and his contract stipulates that he become a free agent at its conclusion, even though he’ll have under six years of major league service time. Sending him to Syracuse doesn’t alter his window of control with the team — it merely provides him a lower-stakes environment to try to get back to his All-Star form.

The other side of Friday’s notable slate of transactions will see the astonishing return of Alvarez. The Mets’ catcher had been one of baseball’s hottest hitters since mid-July but tore a ligament in his thumb while sliding into second base. That injury occurred less than three weeks ago, and his health troubles were compounded when Alvarez suffered a broken pinky finger upon being hit by a pitch on his minor league rehab assignment.

That damaged thumb ligament will require offseason surgery, but Alvarez will remarkably gut out both of those injuries as he tries to help his club down the stretch. Alvarez, like Senga, was optioned to the minors earlier this summer amid some pronounced struggles but returned with a vengeance, hitting .323/.408/.645 in 71 plate appearances before his injury. He went just 4-for-19 with eight strikeouts in 21 plate appearances during his rehab stint, though he did belt a grand slam in his final minor league game before Friday’s activation.