This page may contain affiliate links. If you click and sign up, make a deposit, or place a wager, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Mets' Kodai Senga: Strikes out nine in first start
Rotowire
Senga (0-1) took the loss against the Cardinals on Tuesday, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out nine across six innings.
Senga's stuff looked good, and his increased fastball velocity carried over from the spring. After sitting at 94.7 mph with his fastball last season, Senga's four-seamer averaged 97.4 mph against St. Louis on Tuesday. He also generated 17 whiffs on 92 total pitches, but walks remained an issue for the right-hander after he walked 4.4 batters per nine innings in 2025. The third inning proved to be the difference for Senga on Tuesday, as he gave up three straight hits to begin the frame, including a two-run double to Ivan Herrera. Senga retired 12 of the final 14 he faced. Senga's next start is scheduled for Sunday against the Giants in San Francisco.
... See More... See Less
Mets' Kodai Senga: Solidifying rotation spot
Rotowire
Senga gave up three hits and a walk over four scoreless innings in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros. He struck out four.
Facing most of Houston's likely Opening Day lineup, including Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Carlos Correa, Senga fired 41 of 63 pitches for strikes in another impressive performance. The 33-year-old right-hander has posted a 1.86 ERA and 11:1 K:BB through 9.2 spring frames while showing much better velocity on his four-seam fastball, which averaged 94.7 mph in 2024. With more consistent heat to set up his elite splitter, Senga may be poised to regain something close to the form that saw him deliver a 2.98 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 202:77 K:BB over 166.1 innings during his MLB debut in 2023.
Senga struck out five over three perfect innings in Friday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins.
The right-hander made short work of a mix of Miami Opening Day starters and minor leaguers, with Senga sitting 96-97 mph with his four-seam fastball and popping 98.6 mph in the second inning to top prospect Joe Mack. Senga was so efficient, firing 28 of 38 pitches for strikes, that he needed to toss an additional 30 pitches in the bullpen after his start, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, in order to stay on track with his buildup. Through 5.2 spring frames, Senga sports a 3.18 ERA and 7:0 K:BB, and he seems locked into a rotation spot as long as he can stay healthy.
Senga gave up two runs on three hits over 2.2 innings during Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals. He struck out two without walking a batter.
The two runs came on solo shots, one by top prospect Joshua Baez, but Senga was consistently topping 97 mph with his fastball and hit 98.9 mph on a four-seamer to Alec Burleson. That's a huge improvement on 2025, when he averaged just 94.7 mph with the pitch. The 33-year-old right-hander credited some mechanical tweaks for the improved velocity, per Chuck King of MLB.com. "My body is different from where it was three years ago now, so I'm not really trying to get back to that," Senga said after Saturday's start. "It's a new me, and I'm trying to find new mechanics." If Senga's new-found life on his fastball holds into the regular season, he could return to the level of performance he showed in his first MLB season in 2023, when he posted a 2.98 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 202:77 K:BB in 166.1 regular-season innings.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Thursday that Senga hit 97 mph in a live batting practice session Thursday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.
Senga averaged 95.7 mph with his four-seamer in his rookie season and 94.7 mph with the pitch in 2025, so topping out at 97 mph already in camp seems like a good sign. The 33-year-old posted a 3.02 ERA in 22 outings for the Mets last season, but his strikeout rate dipped to 22.6 percent and he finished the year in the minors after a rough stretch. If healthy, Senga should open 2026 in the Mets' rotation.
Senga appears to be further ahead of other Mets pitchers in camp and has already been hitting 92 mph with his fastball, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.
Having Senga healthy and effective would be a huge boost to the rotation, but the 33-year-old right-hander has a lot to prove in 2026. He began last season with a brilliant 1.47 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 70:31 K:BB through his first 13 starts and 73.2 innings, but after landing on the IL due to a hamstring injury in mid-June, Senga couldn't put things back together. He posted a 5.90 ERA, 1.69 WHIP and 39:24 K:BB over his final nine outings and 39.2 innings after being activated from the IL before spending September trying to correct his mechanics at Triple-A Syracuse even with the Mets trying to make a playoff push. If Senga can rediscover his early 2025 form, or his form from 2023, he would give New York a true top-of-the-rotation presence alongside Freddy Peralta.
0:46
0:31
0:49
9:52
1:27
1:50
1:03
0:56
0:25
0:25
0:30
1:23
1:14
4:47
0:30
1:58
1:17
0:27
9:31
11:34
