The New York Mets had no idea which version of starter Kodai Senga would show up last night, but he pitched well.
The New York Mets are getting some strong starting pitching during the first week of the season, and that even includes Kodai Senga. The Mets had no real idea what woul happen against the St. Louis Cardinals last night, but Senga gave New York six strong innings despite having the take the loss as the Cards beat the Mets, 3-0.
Senga hit 99 mph with his fastball, and he allowed just two runs, even though Anthony DiComo of MLB.com added that the starter gave up a total of eight hard-hit balls.
“It was a great start to the year,” Senga said through interpreter Hiro Fujiwara. “It makes me excited for this year, being out there and I could start to deduce, ‘What is this hitter thinking? What are they looking for? What’s something that they’re not looking for?’ Being out there and able to do that, it’s a good feeling. I’m excited.
“It really felt like I’m a starting pitcher again.”
The Mets have to be excited, too. The back end of their rotation was a bit of a mystery going into this season, and manager Carlos Mendoza has already had to exile Sean Manaea to the bullpen. Senga got 17 swings and misses, according to DiComo, and he even threw his infamous “ghost fork” to earn some of them.
The hard-hit balls were a problem, although the Mets didn’t do much offensively to back up their starter. The two-run double from Ivan Herrera the generated most of the Cardinals offense left the bat at 107.4, DiComo added, but Senga also stayed out of trouble by getting plenty of early outs, which has been a problem for him in the past.
The offense is a bit of an issue right now, and it’s fair to ask if it might be a good idea to drop still-slumping third baseman Bo Bichette deeper in the lineup until he gets his bearings.
But Senga’s 92 pitches were the highlight in this one, and he gave up just four hits to go with nine strikeouts and three walks.
“He was really good today,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “From the very first pitch, we saw the velo. For him to be able to maintain the velocity throughout the outing … that’s exciting.”
New pitching coach Justin Willard was also impressed. He doesn’t know Senga’s game yet, but he’s familiar with both the history and the potential here.
“This guy wants to be great,” Willard said before the game. “I think you saw it Year 1 when he was here, and then a couple injuries derailed him a bit. But he wants to be great. He wants to be the best pitcher in baseball. And he’s going to do things he needs to do to be that.”
The Mets will send one of the best pitchers in baseball, Freddy Peralta, to the mound for the rubber game in St. Louis on getaway day to see if they can notch a series win.