Not so fast: Senga goes slow with new two-seamer by design in debut

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Not only is Kodai Senga healthy at the start of March, but he’s working on a new pitch to curtail his reverse platoon splits.

Senga debuted a two-seam fastball, or sinker, in his Grapefruit League debut on Monday night at Clover Park. He threw it three times in a 1-1 tie with the Marlins, on average about 5 mph slower than his mid-90s four-seamer.

That velocity spread was not by design and should not be permanent. Senga purposely threw the two-seamer slower, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said, because he’s trying to get a feel for it. Following a few inauspicious test runs in the bullpen, Senga flashed more movement with the sinker in Monday’s game than at any point this spring.

“It’s a new pitch that he isn’t quite fully confident in, so he’s trying to get his hand in the right spot,” Hefner said, estimating that Senga’s two-seamer could eventually come in a tick or two less than his four-seam fastball.

Since Senga entered the league in 2023, he’s worked largely off a three-pitch mix, throwing his four-seamer, cutter and ghost fork between 85-90 percent of the time. He’s also mixed in sweepers, sliders and curveballs, but those have mostly been change-of-pace pitches.

It’s a mix that’s worked well against left-handed batters, whom Senga has held to a .562 OPS. It hasn’t been quite as effective against righties, who have a .679 OPS against him. Often in 2023, Senga found himself struggling to put right-handed hitters away, resulting in lengthy at-bats that drove up his pitch count.

Hefner, who suggested the idea of a two-seamer to Senga, believes it can eventually replace his four-seamer to right-handed hitters. If so, the hope is that it might result in some quick outs, taking advantage of a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop in Francisco Lindor.

“[If] he throws it and it’s a two- or three-pitch at-bat,” Hefner said, “then how much more do we gain over 30 starts? Who knows?”

“That’s a pitch that you can get ground balls … running into righties,” added manager Carlos Mendoza. “It gets hitters off his splitter, his slider, if he’s got something going in to righties. If that’s a pitch that he can really use when he needs to, it’s a dangerous pitch. He can manipulate the baseball in a lot of different ways.”

Pitch mix aside, the Mets were happy simply to see a healthy Senga on the mound. Last year, the right-hander made only one regular-season start due to a combination of shoulder, triceps and calf injuries. Although Senga returned to pitch three times in the playoffs, he was not at full strength in October.

Four months later, Senga arrived in Florida an ostensibly healthy player, though he initially kept himself confined to bullpen mounds and back fields. As long as he continued to feel strong in early March, Senga said, he intended to enter a game at that time. That finally happened, when Senga threw 31 pitches against the Marlins plus another simulated inning in the bullpen afterward.

Senga allowed two hits and struck out a pair over his two scoreless innings.

“I’m just very pleased that I’m able to get out of it healthy,” Senga said through an interpreter. “There were a lot of things I wanted to try out that I was able to. It’s just great to be out there.”