Kodai Senga's first outing gives Mets much-needed boost in confidence

Kodai Senga made his season debut for the New York Mets on Tuesday night against the Miami Marlins. This marked the first time the right-hander had started a regular-season game since July 26, 2024.

Senga, 32, battled several injuries in 2024 and was placed on the IL for the majority of the season. The two major things that he dealt with were a moderate posterior capsule strain in his right shoulder that put him on the 60-day IL to begin the year and a high-grade left calf strain in his July debut vs. the Atlanta Braves.

Aside from the game against the Braves, Senga was able to make his way back to the Mets in time for the NLDS and eventually the NLCS but he did not look like the same dominant pitcher he once was in 2023.

Since then, he has been putting in work throughout the offseason and manager Carlos Mendoza was looking forward to his debut.

"Very excited," Mendoza said. "The fact that he’s taking the ball today, April 1st, after what he went through last year when we only saw him for one game and then a little bit towards the end in the playoffs. Worked really hard in the offseason, throughout Spring Training, and here he is ready to compete and help us continue to get us victory."

His night got off to a rough start as he allowed a leadoff double to Xavier Edwards on the second pitch of the game. This greeting was then followed up with a home run by Kyle Stowers on a 93.4 mph fastball. 

Senga was then able to settle in after the tough beginning of the game and escaped the inning with 15 pitches. However, the righty didn’t find his groove until the second inning when he fanned multiple batters with the infamous forkball.

In total, Senga pitched five innings while surrendering four runs, two of which were earned, three hits and racked up eight strikeouts on the day. It is also key to note that six of his eight strikeouts were via the ghost forkball.

It comes to no surprise that Senga was able to punch out six batters with ghost forkball considering his statistics from 2023. The forkball accounted for 110 of his 202 strikeouts that year; plus, he also had a 59.5 percent whiff rate and a 28.2 percent putaway rate.

"It was not great, but not bad," Senga said when he was asked about how his forkball was working. "First time throwing to Torrens in a big league game, so I think there were some adjustments that are going to continue to be made, and I think he did a great job using it, and that’s why I was able to perform decently."

The more time Senga spends on his craft, the better. If he can get both percentages close to where they were in 2023, then he will be in good shape for the 2025 season.

Another pitch that had visible improvement was his fastball as he reached 97 mph one time throughout his start. Senga has been trying to get his velocity back on his fastball ever since he came back and this was certainly an encouraging sign for Mets fans to see him reach the upper 90s for the first time in a while.

"He’s a big part of this team," Mendoza said. "He’s a big part of the rotation. We saw what he was able to do in 2023, he basically became the ace of the team. And not having him last year hurt. He knows it, everybody knows it, and our goal is to keep it that way."

Certain aspects of Senga's game need to be tweaked, but the main issue he has at the moment is staying healthy. If he can have a healthy year, then the rest will come along with it. 

This means his velocity will go up, his pitch count will be increased and he will be able to make it further into the game, giving the bullpen more of a rest on the days he is on the mound.

Senga's first outing was just a sneak preview of what he is going to accomplish in the 2025 season, and hopefully, he can step back into his role as the club's ace shortly.