On a day for the Mets when the news about catcher Francisco Alvarez was not good, there were some positive developments for a pair of arms that look to factor as key pieces to the starting rotation, especially early in the season.
With injuries to Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas hamstringing Carlos Mendoza a touch, the manager appeared pleased to talk about two pitchers moving in the right direction.
Kodai Senga working on mechanics
A year ago, injuries and issues with his mechanics really derailed the right-hander’s second season with the Mets. This year, after tossing four innings and 50 pitches during an intrasquad workout Sunday on the back field, Senga feels there’s still work to be done but will be ready for the start of the regular season.
“I’m still working on things, working on mechanics, I’m not 100 percent content,” Senga said, speaking through an interpreter. “But… we’re like two and half weeks before the season starts, I plan to continue to work on it and then I’ll be ready for Opening Day.”
Mendoza said he got a report from assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel, who watched the righty work. But the news may be that there was not much to report back on.
“Told it was good. [Druschel] said that the two-seam is a pitch that he’s working on,” Mendoza said, before shrugging slightly, “just got his work in. So, nothing there to report.”
Overall, Senga said he felt good about the day’s work as he was able to mix in his pitches. And while reports from Druschel were that his velocity was down a touch, he believes working on the backfield contributed to that.
“I think that does play a part,” Senga said about the backfield work. “Did I have adrenaline rushing out there? No. But I think throwing in a spring training game isn’t all that different. When the lights shine at Citi Field that’s when the adrenaline rushes.
“So what I can do with my time until then is to prepare my body so that I’m ready for when that time comes.”
Mendoza said the next step will be for the 32-year-old to continue to build up.
“We’ll have to continue to talk with the coaches to see how that builds up,” Senga said, “Obviously it’s gonna be more than 50 pitches, but we’ll have to talk and decide.”
On Clay Holmes‘ learning experience
The reliever-turned-starter had another solid day on the hill for the Mets, continuing a run of scoreless innings, as he allowed just one hit and three walks with eight strikeouts in 3.2 innings in Sunday’s win over the Nationals.
But the long outing didn’t come easily to the 31-year-old.
“Sinker wasn’t there early,” Holmes said, adding, “It kinda just forced me to pitch a little bit, which I think is good learning here in spring training. And it was fortunate to make some of those pitches.”
“He had to pitch today,” Mendoza said about the right-hander’s day. “On a day when, he’d probably tell you, the [sinker] wasn’t at its best, that’s part of the transition.
“Where, as a reliever, you don’t have your A-pitch, you’re gonna have to find a way to get it back. Now as a starter, he’s just finding a way to ‘let me use the slider, the changeup, the cutter, the four-seam’ finding a way to get through innings. And he did that today.”
Mendoza pointed to the changeup as a pitch Holmes found that was “really, really good,” pointing to several that were thrown against right-handed batters. On 16 changeups – Holmes’ second most used pitch after the sinker on the afternoon – he got six whiffs on eight swings and another two called strikes. The sweeper had similar success with four called strikes and whiffs out of eight offerings.
“[The changeup is] obviously something this offseason that I’ve been working to add, especially this early in spring, just trying to get some miles on it, see where it’s at really,” the starter said. “It’s been good in bullpens, it’s been good early on, but just to feel it in game speed, feel it in different scenarios, it was good.
“I think today I learned that as the sinker command was not totally there early, instead of having to force that, changeup just allowed me to pull back a little bit and I really got to see how it was playing a little bit.”
But the other positive step was the length for a pitcher who started last year as the Yankees closer.
“Four ups, sixty-something pitches,” the skipper added, “it was a good day for him overall.”
“Probably the most pitches I’ve thrown in a while,” Holmes said, adding he likely had not thrown that many pitches since 2018. “So it was nice to just kinda feel the heat, feel close to 70 pitches.”
But today isn’t the end, as Holmes pointed to the next few outings of spring as “important” as he stretches toward his final pitch count. “But also, just seeing how my stuff plays second time through the lineup, third time through the lineup and just really getting that feel of getting guys out this way, getting guys out another way, reading swings kinda seeing what they’re doing,” he said. “As I start to stretch out and start to see guys multiple times, it’s gonna really allow me to get a feel for the starting role and that aspect, which is gonna be important.
“Doing a little more than just throwing sinkers. Just being able to see how I wanna use my pitches, have some type of game plan, read swings, when to deviate, just all those things that come with starting. I’m gonna start experiencing these next few outings.”
Brandon Nimmo ‘ramping’ back up
The manager said the outfielder was “feeling better” but Monday will present a new challenge for Nimmo as his ailing knee received a “gel injection” to help lubricate the joint.
“Hopefully, just get through tomorrow,” Mendoza said. “Tomorrow, we should start ramping him back up, some baseball activities, and then we’ll go from there.”
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