Mets To Sub In Senga Tonight In Their Latest Attempt To Boost Sagging Rotation

The New York Mets have a paper-thin rotation, and they’re struggling to find answers. The latest one has them subbing in Kodai Senga for Tobias Myers, which is the pitching version of going from the frying pan into the fire. 

It can't get worse tonight, though. Myers is a reliever who wasn't stretched out as a starter, and he obviously wasn't ready for last night. He gave up nine runs in the first two innings to end Mets night early as they lost a 12-0 game to the Cincinnati Reds. 

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza knows that what the Mets are doing isn't the best solution, but it’s the only one they have at hand. 

“Guys will continue to get opportunities, and guys will need to step up,” Mendoza said in a piece written by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. “We’ve got a lot of guys in there that are more than capable, and we need those guys to step up, especially right now when we’re banged up.”

Whether Senga will step up or not remains an open question. He's a total wildcard at this point, with some strong early starts followed by multiple bad outings.  

“He’s ready to go,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s telling us that he feels 100 percent. He was on board with, ‘Hey, if you guys want me to go in the minor leagues and pitch again, I’ll do it. But I’m ready to compete at the big league level.’ So for him to be very vocal about it, it’s a really good sign.”

This is definitely Senga singing a different tune. He's requested extra time to fine-tune his mechanics in the past. but now he seems to recognize that his job could be on the line, along with a Mets season.

Senga has been on a rehab assignment at Double-A Binghamton., where his last outing was sharp. He allowed just one run in six innings of work, and his fastball hit the low 90s. The Mets are hoping that the results of a Double-A outing will translate to big league success, but the truth is they have very little choice. 

Senga is the only experienced candidate they have to replace Myers in the rotation, and the Mets have already seen what happens when their younger pitchers are rushed up. The one thing they don’t want to do is repeat a game like last night.

At this point it almost doesn't matter if it works or not. The halfway mark of the season is almost here and the Mets are buried in last place in the NL East, with little or no hope of contention at this point.