Kodai Senga’s Rediscovered Firepower Offers Hope Amidst Mets’ Sluggish Start

[Matthew Nethercott]

Image courtesy of © Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The New York Mets are in the midst of a seven-game road trip that opened with them dropping two games to the St. Louis Cardinals. Now, they head to San Francisco for four games against the Giants. The Mets' offense has not been great in the early going outside of Opening Day, but one of the biggest takeaways from the Cardinals series was how good Kodai Senga was in the second contest.

Last season did not end well for Senga, with the Mets having to send him to AAA to end the season. Now, Senga looks like a new man. While it was just one start during what is now coined as overreaction week, the veteran right-hander looked really good in his outing against the Redbirds. He pitched six innings, giving up just two runs -- which you can argue would not have scored if Luis Robert Jr. did not misplay two balls in center field -- while striking out nine.

 

He used his fastball and cutter more than any pitch, which set up the forkball as a true out-pitch. His velocity topped out at 99.2 on his fastball, which is a strong explanation for how he generated a 30.4% whiff rate on the pitch.

But velocity only gets you so far; perhaps the most impressive statistic from his start was the average launch angle against his fastball, which sat at  -4° during the outing. By consistently attacking the upper third of the zone with that upper-90s heat, Senga forced hitters into weak, rolled-over contact, preventing them from squaring up the barrel. This vertical approach created the perfect tunneling effect for his fork ball which naturally drops out of the same plane.

Because hitters were so focused on catching up to the increased velocity of the heater and the horizontal movement of his cutter, the forkball's 38 inches of vertical drop became nearly impossible to track, leading to a chase rate well above his career average.

Senga's performance was good to see for a Mets team that needs him as much as anybody. For New York to be successful in 2026, they are going to need all their starters behind Freddy Peralta and Nolan McLean to do their part. In his first start, Senga did; it was the first time he went six innings in an outing since June 6 last year.

 

Availability is the best ability, and Senga being able to give innings on a consistent basis will be a big deal for the Mets, trickling down to their bullpen which got worn down in 2025 because of starters not going deep into games. It's one game, but the data supports the impressive results. Now, he'll have to prove capable of replicating this performance over the course of a full season again.

 

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[The Hot Corner]

Senga looked pretty good in his start.  Hopefully, he can stay healthy and continue to pitch well.  Command has always been an issue for him.

[The Hot Corner]

Senga was solid again today in his second start.  Pitched 5.2 innings giving up 2 earned runs on 5 hits (4 singles & 1 double) and 2 walks while striking out 7.

Very early, but very encouraging.