Mets, Kodai Senga find compromise with unusual spring training schedule
New York Mets pitcher Kodai Senga during a spring training workout in Port St. Lucie Florida, Thursday Feb. 20, 2025. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — In the Mets’ slow, careful buildup of Kodai Senga, their best pitcher and the linchpin of their rotation and perhaps their season, the team and the player had different desires.
The Mets’ decision-makers who prescribe each day’s workload for each pitcher very much preferred to have him stick to the practice fields — a more low-key environment in which he faces players in his own organization — for at least one more turn through the unofficial spring training rotation.
Senga badly wanted to get into a real game, a Grapefruit League game, in a stadium with a crowd and an opposing lineup.
So they compromised: Do a little bit of both.
On Monday, Senga will pitch the first inning of the Mets’ 6:10 p.m. contest against the Marlins at Clover Park. Then he will head out back for two more simulated innings against Mets batters, maybe minor-leaguers, in live batting practice.
Manager Carlos Mendoza said he had never previously heard of such an arrangement.
“It’s one of those things where like, you respect the player, you respect the compete. But also, he’s extremely valuable to our team,” pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said. “We don’t want to put Senga in a position where he’s competing and we have too much risk. So he’s going to get the game exposure and we’re going to see what that’s like, then control it the rest of the way.”
This minutia might seem like nitpicking during the six-week, boring-is-successful baseball preseason, but it matters greatly to those involved. That especially is the case at a time of year when pitchers are most at risk of getting hurt, hence the Mets’ internal discussion. If you have a guy do too much too soon, he might suffer an injury.
In the case of Senga, who missed nearly all of 2024 because of shoulder and calf problems, the microscope is even more powerful. As spring training hits the halfway point this weekend, all feedback on Senga’s health, arm and progress has been positive. He hasn’t pitched in a game yet because the Mets want to be sure, then even surer.
When the Mets indicated they wanted him in the simulated environment again, Senga expressed a craving for more. Mendoza called that “a really good sign.”
“The fact that he wants to get in real competition, face another team, says a lot,” he said. “When I was talking to [Hefner] about it, I was actually encouraged by it.”
Hefner said: “We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t think he could do it and safely do it. That’s the main point. If we didn’t feel like this was safe for him, he would just do another live BP. But we feel like he’s progressed in a manner that allows him to do this and do this well.”
In Senga’s sessions so far, most recently when he faced teammates on Wednesday, his fastball has been at 93 to 95 mph (touching 96 once), Hefner said.
Facing Miami will be more intense.
“We feel comfortable enough with where the velo’s been [that] now he knows ‘I’m going into a game, I’m going to try to hit a certain intensity,’ ” Hefner said. “He’s not going to be Opening Day-in-Houston intensity. We’re not going to see that. But we’re hoping to see a little bit more intensity for an inning.”
Did this plan make Senga happy?
“I don’t think he’s ever happy,” Hefner said. “He was just: That’s the plan, let’s go do it. It was much more businesslike than joy.”
Senga is at the top of a rotation that already has lost Sean Manaea (right oblique strain) and Frankie Montas (right lat strain) to injuries that will delay the start of their season. Behind Senga are David Peterson and Clay Holmes, plus two of Paul Blackburn, Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill.
Peterson also will make his first Grapefruit League appearance Monday, following Senga for two or three innings.
The Mets’ rotation will look and feel a lot different if Senga returns to something resembling his rookie 2023 form, when he was an All-Star with a 2.98 ERA (and 202 strikeouts in 166 1⁄3 innings).
This plan, the Mets believe, is a step toward that.
“It’s a way to get him exposure to some higher intensities, but not throughout the duration,” Hefner said. “We’ll have the minor-league field teed up.”
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.
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