The New York Mets are not shying away from a six-man starting rotation and have tons of options to consider, including a former All-Star that fell off last season.
Former All-Star and New York Mets right-hander Kodai Senga had about as great of a start to the season as one could have, posting a 1.47 ERA through his first 13 starts.
Then a devastating right hamstring strain suffered on June 12 against the Washington Nationals completely derailed his Cy Young-caliber season. Senga was absolutely dominant up to that point, but something shifted once he got hurt.
His rehab was strenuous and when Senga’s hamstring healed, he wasn’t confident in himself anymore. He lost his feel for the strike zone and struggled to get back to his dominant self upon his return to the Mets.
Senga said he was “out of sync” following the injury and he wasn’t the same pitcher that he was prior to the injury. After a month on the shelf, Senga came back but struggled immensely.
His first start went well and the 33-year-old threw four scoreless innings in a winning effort against the Kansas City Royals, but it went downhill from there. He posted a 6.56 ERA over his last eight starts (35.2 innings) and was even sent down to Triple A-Syracuse following his Aug. 31 start against the Miami Marlins.
The Marlins tagged Senga for five runs on seven hits and two walks over 4.2 innings, ending his season in the majors. Despite the premature ending, he made 22 starts and went 7-6 with a 3.02 ERA. He only made two starts for Syracuse in September, going 1-1 with a 4.66 ERA over 9.2 innings.
MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo believes Senga has the most to prove in spring training, noting that even when the starting rotation was struggling late last season, Senga couldn’t make it back to the club.
“It's now been two consecutive years of injuries and inconsistencies for Senga, whose inability to correct issues quickly once they arise has exasperated Mets officials,” DiComo wrote Tuesday. “The team looked into trading Senga this offseason but never found a partner. He has two years and $30 million remaining on his contract and, if the Mets want to extract more value from it, they'll need Senga to begin pitching better soon.”
Senga projects to be the sixth starter for the Mets this season, but he could very well lose his spot if he doesn’t have a strong spring. At his best, he pitches like the best pitcher in the sport. At his worst, he’s not serviceable and loses confidence in himself.
Senga needs to stay healthy to maximize his potential because injuries have derailed his success in each of the last two seasons. Expect Senga to perform with a chip on his shoulder this spring and hopefully into the season.