PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – The big pregame news out of Mets camp Friday came when Carlos Mendoza revealed that Clay Holmes, former reliever, had pitched his way into being named the club’s Opening Day starter. Kudos to Holmes, who has been both diligent and dazzling in his transformation from Yankees closer to the top of the Mets' rotation.
But another awfully important pitching story for the Mets further unfolded when Kodai Senga started Friday evening against the Cardinals. This one is not nearly as tidy as Holmes’ ascension, which boasts a crazy .065 batting average against and pinhead-small 0.62 WHIP this spring.
Senga was, as Mendoza put it, “OK” across 3.1 innings against St. Louis in a 3-3 tie at Clover Park, allowing two runs and seven hits. It’s just spring training and Senga, through an interpreter, and Mendoza both deemed the outing a productive night, work-wise. Overall, though, the pitcher coming off a lost 2024 admitted there are “things I’m content with and some things not so much” with his mechanics this spring.
However he sorts that out, one thing is clear – "peak" Senga, something seen only in flashes since his breakout 2023 season, would be an enormous boost to the Mets. They are already dealing with injuries to two members of their rotation – Sean Manaea, who might’ve been the Opening Day starter if he were healthy, and Frankie Montas. The Mets possess starting depth, sure, but Senga, right now, represents a huge slice of the rotation’s star power.
And they’ll need him this year as they aim to compete with the Braves and Phillies in the NL East, two powerful teams with stacked rotations.
“That’s 20 more wins,” said Francisco Lindor when asked what kind of impact Senga, at his best, would make. “He’s an ace. He’s an All-Star. I think he can definitely help us a lot. I’m looking forward to it. I feel like he’s in a good spot and he wants to win.”
“We know what he means to this team and this rotation,” Mendoza added. “I think everyone saw it in 2023 and that’s what we’re looking for here. If he’s healthy, he’s an ace and we need that.
“And, right now, everything is trending in the right direction. I think he's in a really good place, mentally. Physically. And there’s something that I didn't see last year, there's that smile on his face, that joy, you know, being around players. Last year, he went down early in camp, and he was rehabbing and trying to play catch-up the whole year.
“Seeing the way he’s carrying himself in that locker room right now, his presence, knowing that he’s healthy, everybody will feel it.”
Still, with Senga’s recent injury history, there are no guarantees. His spring and how he fares following his starts are key questions for the Mets. Mendoza admitted earlier in the day that Senga was not the choice for Opening Day because “he won’t be ready.”
Senga will start at some point the first time through the rotation, Mendoza said. But the manager also said, “let’s go one outing at a time” when asked for further clarity on when.
Senga missed most of 2024, starting the season on the Injured list with a shoulder capsule strain and then hurting his calf in his return start. He made it back for the postseason, but allowed seven runs in five playoff innings over three appearances (two starts).
But when he’s right, he can be great. In 2023, he was 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA and struck out 202 batters in just 166.1 innings pitched while allowing only 126 hits. He was one of just five qualified pitchers in the majors with a sub-3.00 ERA and one of 17 to fan at least 200.
His “ghost fork” became a sensation, too. In part because of the cool name, but mostly because of its effectiveness. Opposing hitters had a .110 average in at-bats that ended on Senga’s forkball, and 58.5 percent of the plate appearances that finished on the pitch were strikeouts.
Senga was named to the National League All-Star team, making him only the fifth Mets rookie to make the Midsummer Classic. He joined a Flushing Who’s Who of big names: Tom Seaver (1967), Jerry Koosman (1968), Dwight Gooden (1984) and Pete Alonso (2019).
He’s also just fun to watch. At one point Friday, he threw a 63.5 mile-per-hour curveball, two pitches after he had thrown a pitch nearly 30 mph faster. He called it “the miracle ball.”
Maybe the miracle ball, plus the ghost fork, plus a new sinker he’s tinkered with this spring, will add up to something big for Senga and the Mets.
He’ll need health, too, obviously. That’s the first step back to "peak" Senga.
