Kodai Senga hits 97 mph in promising early sign for Mets | amNewYork

New York Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga hit 97 mph on his fastball during his one inning of live batting practice on Thursday — a particularly promising sign for the veteran right-hander.

The oft-injured arm was a shell of himself last season after returning from a strained hamstring, which derailed a campaign that began with a 1.47 ERA across his first 13 starts. Upon his return in July, he hit 97 mph or greater just four times across his final nine outings (h/t Baseball Savant), which featured a 5.90 ERA and mechanics that were so out of whack that he accepted a demotion to Triple-A toward the end of the season. 

“I think the biggest thing for me, when you see 96, 97, that’s a really good sign,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I thought he threw some really good sweepers, especially for strike one, backdoor against lefties. He’s just working on all of his pitches; he’s just trying to get the feel. First time out there, the feedback from the hitters is always important, and yeah, I think it all comes down to health. We all know that, and man, it was good to just see him go out there with intensity and throwing the ball the way he did.”

Senga is one of the biggest wild cards of New York’s rotation in 2026. In his only fully healthy season since making the jump from Japan, he finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting and was a top-10 finisher in the Cy Young race in 2023 (2.98 ERA, 202 strikeouts). 

But he was limited to just 5.1 regular-season innings in 2024 before last year came undone after attempting to reel in a high throw from Pete Alonso while covering first base. 

The Mets figure to already have a solid 1-2 punch with Freddy Peralta and Nolan McLean, but if Senga could regain his 2023 form, the rotation is in much better shape.

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