NEW YORK -- David Stearns, the Mets’ president of baseball operations, has been impressed by what he has seen from right-hander Kodai Senga out of the bullpen. In his three games as a ninth-inning reliever, Senga has three saves and five strikeouts in three innings.
The results don’t tell the entire story, Stearns said. Senga’s routine before games is the reason he has been able to transition from a starter to a reliever.
“Kodai has done a great job. He has adjusted very well. It's not just in the performance that we are seeing when he goes out there. It’s how he is getting ready for those performances,” Stearns said. “It’s not the easiest transition to make, but he shortened up his routine and got ready very fast. He is to the point where [interim manager Andy Green] is able to use him as a normal relief pitcher and it has happened really fast. That’s a credit to Kodai.”
The Mets have yet to announce officially that Senga is the closer, but Green hopes that pitching the last frame becomes a regular occurrence for the right-hander.
“He is doing a nice job,” Green said about Senga. “He is handling it really well. I’m going to continue to talk to him and make sure we take care of him. There will be times where everybody is going to hear [Michael Jackson’s] ‘Beat It’ [Senga’s entrance song] and we have to go in a different direction. But for us, he is doing everything we want him to do right now. We’ll continue to monitor his health, how he feels. We’ll try to do our best to put him in good positions.”
Green’s future
The Mets have won nine of their past 12 games entering Monday’s action against the Padres and are 22-22 since Green took over as interim manager, replacing Carlos Mendoza on June 26.
However, even if the season continues to improve, Green is expected to transition back to the front office as senior vice president of player development, according to Stearns.
“It’s my expectation that he returns to the front office,” Stearns said. “I think he has done a great job. It helps that he has had familiarity with some of those players who are coming through our [Minor League] system. They know him, he knows them. He also has some familiarity with our veteran players. That wasn’t completely news to anyone, as well.”