Starting Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, pitcher Kodai Senga of the New York Mets will continue his incredible recovery from ailments that have limited him to only two starts this season.
Carlos Mendoza, manager of the New York Mets, stated on Saturday that “everyone should be available and ready to go.”
“Well, it’s Senga and then we’ll see after that,” he remarked just before the Mets’ brief practice before leaving for Los Angeles.
In the NL Division Series, Senga made a comeback to the starting lineup. On October 5, he began Game 1 against the Philadelphia Phillies and allowed one run in two innings as the Mets defeated them 6-2.
Senga’s right shoulder capsule strain kept him out of the first 102 games this season. On July 26, he made his only regular-season start and worked 5 1/3 innings before hurting his left calf.
If the Mets “get to see (Senga) pitch again this year, that means we’re in a good spot,” Mendoza stated the following day. The 31-year-old only appeared in one minor league rehab game.
When asked about his possible workload on Saturday, Senga responded through an interpreter, “There’s not a number I have in mind.” “I’m going to go at 100% until they take the ball away from me,” the player declared.
Placing Senga back into the rotation allows the Mets to maximize the rest for Senga and the remainder of their rotation. Counting the appearance against the Phillies, Senga has made 26 of his 30 big league starts on at least five days of rest.
Sean Manaea, who will start Game 2 Monday, has thrown a career-high 193 2/3 innings while Luis Severino has tossed 194 innings, his most since 2018. David Peterson threw a career-high 121 regular-season innings and has emerged as a pivotal bullpen piece with 6 1/3 scoreless innings in the playoffs.
“From the beginning, we wanted to put our guys in what we felt was the best position to have success considering where they’re at physically,” Mendoza said. “For Senga, we wanted to keep it as close as possible to his routine. And then with some of the other guys, like I said, it’s because of where they’re at physically and who will benefit from an extra day.”
Senga might not be the only surprise performer for the NLCS-champion Cinderella Mets. Jeff McNeil played second base for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League on Friday night. His regular season ended on September 6 due to a broken right wrist he sustained after being hit by a pitch. McNeil went 1-for-4 with a walk.
Mendoza stated that, provided he stays fit, McNeil has “a good chance he’ll be on the roster” and that he was expected to play right field for Scottsdale on Saturday.
“Kind of hit me, I think it was yesterday, when we were going through a lot of these conversations and I went back to when I announced that Senga was done for the regular season and then when Jeff gets hit and we get the results, it’s broke and he’s done,” Mendoza said. “And here we were yesterday, having those conversations. It was a good feeling — pretty incredible. I’m just glad that they are healthy now.”
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