Mets' Kodai Senga has successful rehab start for Brooklyn Cyclones
Kodai Senga, sidelined with strained shoulder, made his first rehab appearance for Cyclones on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Credit: Olivia Falcigno
Mets ace Kodai Senga had yet to pitch in a game — at any level — in 2024.
That changed Wednesday night.
Senga, sidelined with a strained right shoulder since late February, took the mound for the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones in front of a lively crowd at Maimonides Park in Coney Island.
The righthander looked like himself against the Hudson Valley Renegades, the Yankees’ affiliate, striking out six (all swinging) on 35 pitches (25 strikes) in 2 2/3 hitless innings. He faced Hudson Valley’s lineup one time through, surrendering just one baserunner on an infield error.
“Just very glad that I was able to get through it without any accidents,” Senga said through an interpreter.
Senga, limited to 40 pitches, came out strong in a 19-pitch first inning, striking out two on fastballs of 95.6 and 95.9 mph, respectively.
Senga was even sharper in a perfect second. He tossed seven straight strikes to start the nine-pitch inning, including two strikeouts on his ghost forkball.
Senga struck out two in the third, both on forkballs. He threw first-pitch strikes to the last seven batters he faced.
“Fastball and the forkball felt really good,” Senga said. “But the spin pitches I was missing here and there, and I know that if those aren’t perfected at the big-league level, they can turn into extra-base hits.”
He faced live hitters for the first time since his injury on April 29, but he had paused doing so fewer than two weeks later to adjust his mechanics. He suffered a second setback on May 19, with right triceps tightness derailing a scheduled bullpen session and leading to a cortisone shot and a brief shutdown period.
Senga found his way back to facing hitters in a live batting practice session in Port St. Lucie, Florida, on June 23. He hurled another live batting practice last Thursday and a bullpen session Sunday in the lead-up to Wednesday.
Senga, 31, is in the second year of a five-year, $75 million contract he signed with the Mets in December 2022.
He had a near-seamless transition from Japan last season, posting a 2.98 ERA with 202 strikeouts in 166 1/3 innings. Senga quickly became the Mets’ top pitcher after they traded both Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. He was an All-Star, the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up and finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting.
The anticipation in the Cyclones clubhouse was palpable with Senga — the sixth Met to make a rehab appearance in Brooklyn, joining pitchers Sean Reid-Foley, Tylor Megill, Drew Smith, Edwin Diaz and catcher Francisco Alvarez — in town.
“Guys are excited to watch him pitch, watch the way he goes about his business,” manager Gilbert Gomez said pregame. “It’s always good to have those guys here.”
Senga had no definitive answer to when or where his next rehab start will be but thinks it will be elsewhere “if everything goes well.” He did not provide a timetable for his Mets return.
“Whenever (Mets manager Carlos Mendoza) tells me to go, I’m ready to go,” Senga said. “Whether that’s on four days rest, five days rest, six days rest. Whatever he tells me to, whenever my name is called, I think my job is to be out there ready to pitch.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.