Mets' Kodai Senga will not pitch for rest of regular season, could return for playoffs
Kodai Senga #34 of the Mets looks on from the dugout during the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field on Monday, Sep. 16, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Mets’ dream of having Kodai Senga return before the end of the regular season is over.
Manager Carlos Mendoza announced on Sunday that Senga felt right triceps tightness during a one-inning rehab outing for Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday.
With seven games to go in the regular season, the Mets have a new dream: That Senga will still be able to pitch for them if they make the postseason.
“He felt like he could have continued to pitch [on Saturday],” Mendoza said before the Mets hosted the Phillies in their regular-season home finale. “But he just wanted to play it safe. He’s going to continue to throw.”
Senga, the Mets’ ace as a rookie in 2023, made only one start in 2024.
He missed nearly four months at the start of the season because of shoulder issues. Senga returned on July 26 in a dominant 5 1⁄3-inning, nine-strikeout performance against Atlanta. But he left the game after injuring his left calf while trying to race away from an infield pop-up near the mound.
“It’s been a hard year for him,” Mendoza said. “You feel for him because he works really hard. He goes down the first week of spring training. He's dealing with something, with the shoulder, and then puts himself in a position to make a start, and then the calf happens. And then he goes out there [Saturday] and he felt something. Seems like he's not worried about it, but it’s a setback.”
After the calf injury, Senga kept trying to come back, even if it meant a shortened start in one of the Mets’ final games next weekend in Milwaukee. Senga was that good in 2023, when he went 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA in 29 starts, made the National League All-Star team and finished second in the Rookie of the Year race.
The Mets were that intrigued by what he could bring to their pitching staff that they were considering using him in a limited role in what could still end up being one of the biggest games of their season.
On Wednesday, Senga said through an interpreter: “I’ve been working my tail off and devoting all my time toward this. I know if this doesn’t go well, I’m just going to be in the dugout rooting for my teammates. So I need to make this work. With the team being in a really tight spot, a good position, I need to be at 100% to contribute. I don’t want to come back at anything less than 100% . . . Literally everything [in and on] my body, including the calf, including the shoulder and the elbow — everything needs to feel good.”
The same would likely apply to any chance of Senga pitching in the postseason.
Mendoza, who said he hadn’t yet spoken to Senga about the new development when he met the media before Sunday’s game, was asked if the righthander should just shut it down for 2024.
“He’s a competitor,” Mendoza said. “He knows that we are a better team if he's healthy. He's going to continue to push it. He's going to continue to try everything that he can in his power to be available for us. If that doesn't happen, then we do what we’ve got to do. But we're going to listen to him. As of right now, he wants to continue to do it.”
Lindor update
Francisco Lindor (back) was out of the lineup for the seventh straight game. Mendoza said Lindor was going to “try and push it” during pregame drills. The hope is Lindor can return for the series opener in Atlanta on Tuesday. The Mets are off on Monday.
Mendoza didn’t rule out using Lindor off the bench in Sunday night's game, saying “it’s possible.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
