PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The exasperation that Mets fans and officials have sometimes felt about Kodai Senga is rooted in his talent. At his best, Senga has been a dynamic force on the mound, capable of throwing in the upper 90s and possessing some of the most lethal secondary pitches in the Majors. At worst, Senga has been unworthy of a roster spot. He hasn’t spent much time between those extremes.
The Mets’ ceiling this year will depend partially upon which version of Senga takes the mound. If it’s anything like the one that showed up in the team's 1-0 loss Friday, they’ll be in decent shape.
Dominant over three perfect innings against the Marlins at Clover Park, Senga touched 99 mph on the radar gun, sat 97 mph, threw seven distinct pitch shapes and wowed Mets officials with the prime version of himself.
“I haven’t seen Kodai at his best,” said manager Carlos Mendoza, who has only been around for Senga’s past two campaigns. “Last year, he was pretty good, but we didn’t see this type of version here where there’s velo, there’s attack, there’s movement. There’s a lot of positives going on there.”
So sharp was Senga that he needed to throw 30 additional pitches in the bullpen simply to reach his prescribed workload.
“I’m healthy,” Senga said through an interpreter, “and I think that’s the most important thing.”
It has been at least nine months since Senga has felt this good. Last June, he held a 1.47 ERA through 13 starts when he strained his right hamstring, altering the course of his season. Though Senga returned to the mound a month later, he wasn’t the same, pitching to a 5.90 ERA over his next nine outings. His velocity dropped. He bemoaned his inability to keep his mechanics in line. By September, things had gotten so bad that Senga consented to a Minor League demotion. He never made it back to the Majors.
It’s been a similar story throughout his Mets career. In 2023, Senga was an All-Star, looking well worth his five-year, $75 million contract. In 2024, shoulder and calf injuries undermined his season, screwing with his mechanics and preventing them from ever quite clicking back into place. Early in 2025, Senga seemed closer to his usual self, until the hamstring injury and resulting mechanical woes derailed him.
That checkered history has prompted skepticism that Senga might never be the same. He’s since done his best to quiet them, regaining both velocity and confidence so far this spring.
Senga spoke Friday about spending his offseason “getting each of [my] body parts back to where it needs to be, connecting my brain and the body parts so that I can move properly.” It seems to have worked. And the Mets have renewed their commitment to Senga, with Mendoza indicating he’s already proven enough to be part of a six-man Opening Day rotation.
“I want him to continue to be the guy that showed up on Day 1 -- smile on his face,” Mendoza said. “He’s just healthy. But as far as what do we need to see? We need to see a guy that is going to go out there and is going to give us a chance to win a baseball game, which, when he’s healthy, he can do that.”
Senga does appear to be having fun again. In the second inning Friday, he appeared to miss the outside corner with a 67.8 mph curveball, the second-slowest pitch he’s ever thrown in Major League competition. As the crowd at Clover Park murmured, catcher Luis Torrens took a chance and challenged via the ABS system, eliciting a wide grin from Senga. When the call was overturned, resulting in a strikeout, Senga began laughing.
Asked about it afterward, Senga smiled again. “Torrens has a good eye,” he quipped.