Three years ago, Kodai Senga and his ghost fork took the league by storm. Now, the Japanese star’s time in New York has seemingly come to an end. Simply, for the Mets, it’s time to pull the plug on Senga. There have been several reasons for this conclusion: his consistent regression, injuries, and simply underperformance at the major league level.
The hamstring injury he endured last season on a poor throw from Pete Alonso has completely changed everything for Senga. Prior to the injury, Senga was producing as one of the league’s best pitchers, holding a league-leading 1.47 ERA through 13 starts. However, following the injury, Senga was never the same pitcher, struggling to find command while having his velocity dip into the low 90s. His final nine starts brought a 5.90 ERA, with his dominant ghost fork struggling to put batters away.
With his return in 2026 soon on the horizon, the reason to completely pull the plug on the 33-year-old makes all the most sense. With that, here’s why.
Why ending the Kodai Senga experiment makes sense.
It’s shocking that the Kodai Senga experiment isn’t already over. His last outing came on April 26, a contest against the Rockies at Citi Field. The 2 2/3 innings pitched were a total disaster, allowing three earned runs while walking three batters before being pulled early. The 33-year-old’s ERA skyrocketed to 9.00 through just five starts. Two days later, the Mets placed Senga on the 15-day injured list with a supposed lumbar spine injury, shortening a rotation that already had holes.
Obviously, Senga has continued to drag along the regression path, struggling in his first two rehab appearances and holding a 5.14 ERA in seven innings. It wouldn’t be shocking if Senga’s time with the Mets is abruptly ended if the struggles continue.
On Wednesday, Senga appeared for a third time, going five innings while allowing six hits and three runs, walking two and striking out five batters. These numbers came against Triple-A batters; imagine what major league hitters would do? The outing itself also wasn’t pretty, hitting two batters while throwing two wild pitches. It’s very hard to envision the Mets placing Senga in their starting rotation right now, while their bullpen is full with several starters who also somehow can’t start.
It’s just a *bit* hard to envision the Mets asking Kodai Senga to move into the rotation right now. In his latest Triple-A start today, Senga went: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
He hit two batters and threw two wild pitches, topping out at 95.7 mph. Senga has a 5.25 ERA on rehab.
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Senga has roughly $28 million remaining on his contract through 2027, making him incredibly difficult to trade given his medical history. Furthermore, his contract dictates that the Mets must get his explicit permission to permanently demote him to the minors or transition him into a minor-league relief role
If Senga cannot sort out his mechanics and health before his rehab window closes on June 20, President of Baseball Operations David Stearns may be forced into a drastic roster move, such as designating the former All-Star for assignment.
In the meantime, the Mets explicitly moved Tobias Myers to Triple-A so he can work on his stuff as a starter, while doing the same with Jonah Tong. The Mets definitely have options to turn to, but as of right now, they’re running on a rotation with three confirmed starters.
