ST. LOUIS -- There may not be a more perplexing pitcher in baseball today than Kodai Senga, a massively talented starter who at times has thrown like an All-Star, and at other times has quite literally looked out of his league.
In his season debut on Tuesday in the Mets’ 3-0 loss, Senga offered glimpses of both versions, though plenty more good than bad.
The All-Star-caliber stuff was clearly there for Senga, who topped out at 99.2 mph -- one of the five fastest pitches he’s thrown in his Major League career. He generated 17 swings and misses in all at Busch Stadium, throwing seven different pitches.
But the Cardinals also hit Senga hard at times, smashing three consecutive hits in the third inning to score a pair. Two of those came off the bat at speeds of at least 103 mph, including a 107.4 mph Iván Herrera double that plated both runs. The Cardinals had eight hard-hit balls in all and also drew three walks, but Senga often recorded early outs and was pitch-efficient.
Overall, Senga allowed just the two runs in six innings, with four hits, three walks and nine strikeouts -- his most in a game since 2024. He threw 92 pitches.
The outing was Senga’s first in a Major League game since the Mets optioned him -- with his approval -- to Triple-A last September amidst a spate of poor results. Following his All-Star debut season in 2023, Senga fell victim to shoulder and calf injuries that limited him to a single start in 2024. During his comeback attempt, he wrestled with his mechanics -- something that became thematic for Senga, who continued to battle mechanical issues during another injury-plagued 2025 campaign.
This spring, however, Senga reported to camp healthy and throwing in the upper 90s again. He submitted the most dominant Grapefruit League campaign of any Mets pitcher, nailing down a rotation spot for a team in need of a frontline starter.
“This guy wants to be great,” Mets pitching coach Justin Willard said before the game. “I think you saw it Year 1 when he was here, and then a couple injuries derailed him a bit. But he wants to be great. He wants to be the best pitcher in baseball. And he’s going to do things he needs to do to be that.”