Baseball

Mets' Kodai Senga Injures Calf in First Start This Season

The surging Mets won their fifth straight game, but the team's mood was dampened by the injury to Kodai Senga, who got hurt chasing an infield pop-up.

by
Ed Odeven
July 27, 2024

New York Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga made his 2024 MLB season debut on Friday, July 26 against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field.

Senga picked up the win, working 5⅓ innings while allowing two runs on two hits. He walked off the field with an apparent left calf injury after pursuing Aaron Riley's infield pop-up to open the sixth inning.

The Mets triumphed 8-4, collecting their fifth consecutive victory.

New York led 8-2 when Senga was replaced by Eric Orze, the first of three Mets relievers in this game, after first baseman Pete Alonso made the catch. Senga held his calf in pain before exiting the field.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Senga will be examined on Saturday to determine the extent of the injury.

"We've got to get an MRI. That's not happening until tomorrow," Mendoza was quoted as saying by Field Level Media. "He's got to wait and see what we're dealing with here. I don't want to sit here and speculate, [but] I don't think there's anything related to the Achilles [tendon], but we've got to wait and see."

'He Dominated Today'

Assessing Senga's performance before the injury, Mendoza said the veteran pitcher, who walked one and fanned nine batters, had a solid performance.

"Look, he was pretty impressive," Mendoza said, according to the New York Post. "Watching him pitch, the fastball, the splitter, he dominated today.”

Senga threw 52 of 73 pitches for strikes and averaged 95.8 mph (about 155 kph) on his fastball, according to theScore.com.

He sustained a right shoulder injury in February and then spent a stint on the 60-day injured list to open the season.

The 31-year-old right-hander made a combined four minor-league rehab starts for the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones and Class AAA Syracuse Mets earlier this month.

Kodai Senga Had a Stellar Debut Season in MLB

In 2023, Senga was one of the Mets' bright spots, especially in the second half of the season.

He finished his first MLB season with a 12-7 record in 29 games and had a 2.98 ERA in 166⅓ innings. He recorded 202 strikeouts.

What's more Senga made the National League All-Star team and was second in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He signed a five-year contract with the Mets in December 2022 after pitching 11 seasons for NPB's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

Author: Ed Odeven

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