The New York Mets have made a slew of September call-ups as they continue to juggle their rotation and bullpen, but one pitcher who won’t be returning any time soon is former co-ace Kodai Senga.
Senga got off to a great start this season, but he scuffled mightily in the middle months, and he finally agreed to be optioned to Syracuse to work on his mechanics. The goal was to have him rejoin the club on September 20, but Senga showed he wasn't ready, giving up four runs in 3-2/3 innings on Thursday.
"Stuff-wise, [he] was down," Mendoza said to Jorge Castillo of ESPN. "Whether it was the velo, execution, the secondary pitches were not sharp. So that's the report that I got. And then, watching film, you could see it. And that's probably one of the reasons he's asking for one more time to face hitters, just to kind of continue to work through those issues. So that's what we saw."
It was a startling development given the state of the Mets pitching staff. The big club is stretched thin, and New York had to burn through six different relievers last night, with each one going an inning after starter Brandon Sproat gave up four runs in four frames against the Washington Nationals.
The good news is that the Mets outlasted the Nats to win by a 12-6 count. They had to come from behind to do it, posting a six-run inning in the fourth to erase a 4-2 deficit. But Sproat’s short start put all hands on deck, making the win the opposite of economical.
Another bit of good news here is Senga’s health. No one quite seems to know why he hasn’t returned to form, but at least there are no physical issues after the latest "Plan B" failure.
"We're asking the same thing," Mendoza said when asked why Senga hasn't returned to his early-season form. "Healthwise, he's 100 percent fine. There's no issues with him. He's not favoring anything. We just haven't been able to help him, whether it's mechanicals or execution, whatever the case might be here. But we haven't gotten there yet. So this is where we're at. But physically he's fine."
With Senga gone for the year, the Mets playoff fortunes are now firmly in the hands of their three rookie starters—Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Sproat. It certainly wasn’t what the club was expecting at the beginning of the season, but at least the Mets have opened up a two-game lead for the third wild-card spot after last night’s win.