The Mets weren’t lucky enough to have a fully healthy and reliable Kodai Senga at their disposal last October, but enough of that old and tired news. What matters is they have a valuable version of him now, and his dominance on the mound deserves league-wide recognition.
Senga wrapped up his laudable May slate with yet another gem, completing 6.1 innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts in the Mets’ 8-2 beatdown of the lowly Rockies on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field. Check the leaderboard — he owns an NL-best 1.60 ERA through 11 starts.
While he added to his list of first-inning mistakes this season, allowing a home run to the game’s second batter, it didn’t take long for Senga to settle in and find a groove. He proceeded to retire 17 straight batters, and ultimately walked off the field to a standing ovation midway through the seventh.
“Ideally, I’d like to get through without giving up any runs,” Senga said after the win, via his interpreter. “I don’t really think about my stats. A lot more games left in the season. In terms of my innings, give it a few days and I’m no longer on the leaderboard anymore. We have a lot more left to do, and I want to finish my outings on a strong note, unlike today. So, we have a lot of work to do.”
With an average salary of $15 million, Senga isn’t being paid like one of MLB’s elite pitchers. But there’s no disputing the ace-level production the right-hander has offered. He matched his stellar April (1.26 ERA) by delivering an excellent May (1.89), and he’s now allowed three runs or fewer in 28 consecutive starts.
If the league isn’t ready to give Senga worthy praise, at least his rotation mates are. Upon entering the dugout in the seventh, he was swarmed by the Mets’ starting pitchers and Francisco Lindor. They huddled around Senga and jumped in celebration of his second-longest start of the season.
“The forkball, that was a pitch he had right away,” Mendoza said postgame. “They kept swinging at it and he kept going. And then he made the fastball look 98-99 mph when it was 95-96 with how much he was throwing [the fork]. The cutter was good, the sweeper, all of his pitches. He attacked, got ahead, got some chases. He was solid today.”
It’s still too early to declare which aces will start this summer’s All-Star Game in Atlanta, but the short list of candidates undoubtedly includes Senga. He’s held opposing hitters to a .203 average, which ranks seventh best in the NL. It’s also worth mentioning his career regular-season ERA now sits at 2.62.
Senga can only hope June treats him as well as springtime did — he’s lined up to face the vaunted Dodgers next week. Perhaps there’s some added motivation to step up in Los Angeles, as he allowed six runs across three uninspiring innings during two NLCS meetings at Chavez Ravine last fall.
A standing ovation for Kodai Senga as he leaves the mound 👏 pic.twitter.com/VAoeyNpWh4
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 31, 2025
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