The chances that Kodai Senga pitches for the Mets again before the end of the regular season on Sunday appear slim after manager Carlos Mendoza gave a less-than-enthusiastic report about the right-hander's progress.
Speaking from Chicago ahead of New York’s game against the Cubs on Wednesday, the skipper said that the report from Senga’s live batting practice session on Tuesday was "just OK."
"It's just live BP," Mendoza said. "But he didn't feel like the velo was there, and that's what we saw. So he's going to continue to throw, he's staying down there, he's gonna continue to keep throwing there."
The manager said it was a "tough question" when asked if the downtick in velocity was related to the starter's mechanics or something else, such as injury.
"Physically, he feels fine, he feels he's healthy," Mendoza said. "But it's just not clicking, especially with the way the ball is coming out."
Senga's velocity on his fastball was 93 mph during the live BP, the manager said, which would be down from his 94.7 average velocity from this season. (That number was already one mph slower than his 2023 average of 95.7 mph.)
"It was hot and he felt the weather there, too," Mendoza said about the conditions of the live BP that might have influenced the velocity dip. "That was part of the report that we got from the pitching coaches, that the weather there kinda got to him a little bit, and he got tired. Maybe you credit some of that, too."
Mendoza said he was "not sure" when asked if Senga could be available in some capacity – either starting or out of the bullpen – for the season finale on Sunday in Miami, adding, "We still gotta wait and see, he's still gonna wait in Florida after the live BP yesterday, and then we'll see what we got."
Senga, who accepted a demotion to Triple-A Syracuse on Sept. 5 after several ineffectual starts, made two outings there before the end of the minor league season. He struck out eight in six innings of one-run ball in his first start, but struggled in his next outing, surrendering four runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 3.2 innings.
If he doesn't appear again, the 32-year-old will close his third season with the Mets with a 3.02 ERA and 1.315 WHIP in 113.1 innings over 22 starts with 109 strikeouts to 55 walks. Those numbers are boosted by a spectacular start to the year when he posted a 1.47 ERA through his first 13 starts, before he landed on the IL with a hamstring injury in mid-June.
Senga made one short start before the All-Star break, pitching four scoreless innings in Kansas City, but the wheels fell off in the season's second half as he posted a 6.56 ERA and 1.710 WHIP in his last 35.2 innings over eight starts with 35 strikeouts to 22 walks before being optioned.
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