Healthy Senga expects to provide Mets with the ace they need

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- During a roughly 10-minute chat with reporters on Tuesday, the day before the first official workout for pitchers and catchers at Clover Park, Kodai Senga referenced his physical condition in almost every answer. He said the words “health” and “healthy” nearly a dozen times, offering confidence that he could achieve such ideals.

“This year,” Senga said through an interpreter, "I expect to be healthy and be pitching a lot of innings so we can go deep into the postseason.”

The Mets have similar reason to be optimistic. As recently as 2023, his first year in the Majors, Senga made 29 starts, compiling 166 1/3 innings and maintaining his strength deep into September. In Japan, he once threw as many as 180 1/3 innings in a season.

But last year, things unraveled quickly for Senga, beginning with a right posterior shoulder capsule strain suffered in Spring Training. As he attempted to rehab from that injury, Senga experienced multiple setbacks and spent weeks battling his mechanics, frustrating some team officials who couldn’t understand the slow progression. Senga finally made it back on July 26, threw 5 1/3 effective innings against the Braves, then strained his left calf while fielding his position and missed the rest of the regular season.

Senga’s surprise playoff reappearance wound up being anticlimactic; he pitched well once against the Phillies and poorly twice against the Dodgers, though he was hardly the Mets’ only issue in Los Angeles. Eventually, Senga went home, taking with him myriad questions about his health.

It wasn’t until early January, Senga said, that he felt completely back to normal.

“The offseason was kind of like a half-rehab, half-normal type of thing, but everything was precisely written down,” he said. “I feel good.”

The Mets, for their part, aren’t taking Senga’s words for granted. During the offseason, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and multiple team trainers traveled to Japan to work with him. Part of that mission, manager Carlos Mendoza said, was to make sure everyone was on the same page regarding Senga’s health and the strategies to keep him on the field. Mendoza insisted -- as he did last season -- that he never had any issues with Senga during his rehab, but there were clearly times when communication lacked.

That won’t be the case heading into this season.

“It’s a two-way street here,” Mendoza said, “and we will keep it that way.”

When it comes to Senga’s health, the Mets aren’t merely crossing their fingers. More often than not, they intend to use a six-man rotation, in part because they believe it will afford Senga the extra rest he needs to be at his best. When the right-hander first came to the Mets on a five-year, $75 million contract, team officials took pains to keep his throwing program as similar as possible to a Japanese-style once-per-week schedule. Their investment in additional rotation depth should help them maintain a similar plan for the regular season -- and perhaps beyond.

Now entering the third year of his contract, Senga has effectively lost the ability to tear up that deal, because he won’t have enough innings to trigger his opt-out clause. He’ll be a Met for the next three seasons, regardless of his health.

Consider that one obvious reason for the Mets to care deeply about Senga's success. Another is what he represents -- a pitcher who, at times in 2023, profiled as a true ace. The Mets don’t have a clear No. 1 at the moment, even if Sean Manaea looks like a qualified applicant for the job. What they do have is a pitcher who features an upper-90s fastball and a splitter that ranks among the game’s most unhittable pitches. (Opponents are batting .112 against that “ghost fork” since Senga entered the league.)

The raw materials remain present for Senga to be an ace. But the raw materials were there last year, too, when Senga managed to record just 16 outs during the regular season -- in the end, nothing more than a teasing reminder of what he can be at his best.

“Those five innings were electric,” Mendoza said. “You’re watching him pitch and it was like, 'Man, this is real.’ It means a lot if we can have a healthy Senga. You guys saw it in 2023. I saw it briefly last year. It could be special.”