Mets right-hander Kodai Senga was ineffective once again in Sunday afternoon’s loss to the Miami Marlins, leaving the door open for a potential change in the club’s rotation.
“We’ve got to get him right, obviously,” manager Carlos Mendoza said following the 5-1 loss, with Miami taking three of four in the series. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to have some discussion about what’s next for him, but our job is to get him right. But it’s been a struggle, and again, we’ll see what’s next for him.”
As has been the case for most of his outings since coming off the IL in July, Senga struggled with his command, throwing just 43 of his 75 pitches for strikes as he went just 4.2 innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking two.
“I think a lot of the things that we’ve seen the past couple of weeks or so where he’s having a hard time coming in the strike zone, a lot of uncompetitive pitches, ball out of the hand, and then he’s having a hard time competing in the strike zone,” Mendoza said of Senga’s issues. “We saw it today, every time he came in, they made him pay. On a slider there for a two-run homer [byAgustín Ramírez], they were aggressive, but it’s just executing and not getting ahead enough.
“When you get behind hitters, it’s hard to compete at this level.”
Senga echoed his manager’s thoughts, saying that while he feels healthy, he hasn't been able to perform that way he’d like to.
“There’s definitely some frustration,” Senga said through an interpreter. “I’ve never experienced something like this for this extended period of time. There’s some confusion why I’m not able to perform, but at the same time, when I’m able to prepare well and able to do what I’m capable of out there, I know that I’m able to put up a good performance.”
In nine starts since coming off the IL, Senga has allowed three runs or more six times, and he’s yet to complete 6.0 innings in any of those outings.
Mendoza explained that pitching coach Jeremy Heffner and his staff have been working to try to get Senga right for quite some time now, and with rosters expanding to 28 players on Monday, perhaps there’s a chance that the Mets, who are currently utilizing a six-man rotation, could choose to handle Senga’s next turn through the rotation differently.
“We’ve been trying to fix him for quite a bit now,” Mendoza said. “Whether it’s the mechanics, he says he feels fine physically, but we’re not seeing the results.”
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