Kodai Senga takes big step forward as Mets eye rotation options
Kodai Senga of the Mets works out on the field at Citi Field on March 27. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Mired in the dog days of his injury rehabilitation, Kodai Senga drew a crowd Monday afternoon.
About two dozen Mets officials, coaches and players popped into the home dugout at Citi Field about four hours before first pitch against the Cubs to watch Senga take a noteworthy step forward: live batting practice to a pair of minor-leaguers. It was his first time facing hitters since straining his right shoulder in February, and everybody from president of baseball operations David Stearns to the also-injured Francisco Alvarez wanted a looksee.
Still about a month away from returning, Senga making progress underscores one of the Mets’ more exciting — if cautiously optimistic — dynamics: They are looking at getting back not just depth options for their rotation but potentially legitimate upgrades in the coming weeks.
“We’ve got the emergence of some depth there that we thought we were going to have coming into the season and then took a hit,” Stearns said. “And that’s a good feeling.”
In addition to Senga, the Mets have Tylor Megill (right shoulder strain) making his second rehab start Thursday with Double-A Binghamton and could be back as soon as the next homestand. David Peterson (hip surgery) will do the same Friday with Low-A St. Lucie. Max Kranick recently joined Triple-A Syracuse’s active roster. And Christian Scott, the organization’s top pitching prospect, has impressed with Syracuse.
Some Mets decision-makers believe Scott could handle himself in the majors now.
“Christian’s done everything we could’ve hoped and expected. He continues to throw the ball very well,” Stearns said. “Look, I think there’s this balancing act when you call up a prospect versus — when is the prospect ready? And then when is there the major-league need? And often those need to overlap and intersect. For some guys down there, we’re probably just waiting for that intersection to occur.”
Senga threw 21 pitches to Karell Paz and Jose Hernandez, who received the special assignment on the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones’ day off.
Pleased that he felt strong and reached the mid-90s with his fastball, Senga said through an interpreter that “everything is going well.” He’ll do this again Friday, then once more next week, before beginning a rehab assignment.
“The way the ball was coming out, there was no hesitation, he was letting it loose, using all of his pitches,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Stearns said they expect Senga back by early June, maybe earlier. He is eligible to return from the 60-day injured list May 27 (same as Peterson).
“As long as things keep going well, I think I’ll be back right around then,” Senga said.
Mets starters entered the week 19th in the majors with a 4.19 ERA. That includes an 8.37 mark for Adrian Houser and much better from everyone else. They also ranked in the bottom half of the league with 5.1 innings per start, which Stearns said needs to be and likely will be better moving forward.
While Stearns didn’t rule out making a substantial change to the roster at a relatively early juncture in the season, he also offered a vote of confidence to Houser, whom he had with the Brewers for several years.
“House has a nice track record in this league of being able to give quality outings and give a team a chance to win,” he said. “He’s done that for a long time. I’ve seen him do it for a long time. And I’ve also seen him go through some challenging stretches and be able to battle through it. So I certainly think that House is going to work his way through this.”
What does Senga think of the rotation without him?
He stopped to think for a moment.
“Not just pitchers, but everybody in general has good days and bad days,” Senga said. “We’re all grinding to get a W at the end of the day. And I just hope to be back there and be able to contribute to that as well.”
Decision day
The Mets expect Starling Marte back from the bereavement list Tuesday.
It’s not clear who they will remove from the roster to make room for him. They called up Mark Vientos to fill in Saturday.
“We’ll see what happens when Marte gets back,” Stearns said. “One thing I’ve learned in this job is don’t make a decision until you have to make a decision, and so when that point comes, we’ll make a decision.”
Minors details
Righthander Dominic Hamel was named pitcher of the week in the Triple-A International League. He struck out eight and gave up one hit in 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his start for Syracuse.
Also, the Mets promoted Jonah Tong, a 20-year-old righthander, to Brooklyn. Tong dominated his month with St. Lucie, racking up 36 strikeouts and not allowing an earned run in 18 2/3 innings.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
