TODAY: Senga has been moved to the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man roster spot for Jesse Winker, who was officially acquired from the Nationals. Sept. 25 is now the earliest that Senga is eligible to return to action, but by all accounts his 2024 season seems to be over.
SATURDAY, 12:46PM: Senga has a “high grade” calf strain and isn’t likely to pitch again during the regular season, manager Carlos Mendoza told ESPN’s Jorge Castillo (X link) and other reporters. There is a rough recovery timeline of 8-10 weeks, so it is possible Senga might be available should the Mets make a postseason run.
11:24AM: Kodai Senga’s first start of the 2024 season was cut short by injury, and the Mets announced today that the right-hander has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left calf strain. Righty Eric Orze was also optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, and the two roster spots will be filled by Tylor Megill (called up from Triple-A) and new arrival Ryne Stanek (acquired yesterday in a trade with the Mariners).
After suffering a capsule strain in his shoulder during Spring Training, Senga’s recovery was delayed by some mechanical adjustments and then a triceps injury, pushing his season debut back to last night’s game against the Braves. Despite the long layoff, Senga was looking sharp, and finished the start with two earned runs on two hits and a walk over 5 1/3 innings of work. Unfortunately, that final out of Senga’s start saw the righty fall to the ground while leaving the mound during an Austin Riley pop-up, and Senga very gingerly walked off the field after consulting with team trainers.
Senga was scheduled to undergo an MRI today, and the results of that scan have now led to this immediate placement on the 15-day IL. More details on the severity of the strain will likely be revealed later today, though from the admittedly non-scientific method of looking at the obvious pain on Senga’s face in the aftermath of the injury, one would suspect he’ll be missing longer than just 15 days. Depending on the nature of the strain, it isn’t out of the question that Senga’s season could be in jeopardy.
Even if Senga is able to pitch again in 2024, the calf strain is another brutal setback in what has been a frustrating sophomore season for the righty in Major League Baseball. The longtime NPB star came to the majors with much fanfare when he signed a five-year, $75MM free agent deal with New York during the 2022-23 offseason, and immediately delivered on the hype by posting a 2.98 ERA over 166 1/3 innings in 2023. Amidst an otherwise hugely disappointing season for the Mets, Senga’s quick impact at least provided some hope that the franchise might be able to turn things around in relatively short order.
Ironically, the Mets have indeed gotten on track this year, except with virtually no contributions from Senga apart from Friday’s start. The rotation has been something of a weak link in general due to injuries, though the group of Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, and Jose Quintana have been solid if unspectacular. Senga’s return was supposed to add an ace alongside that trio, but New York has now been bit again by the injury bug, between Senga’s calf strain and Christian Scott’s UCL strain.
Megill or Jose Butto could get another look in the rotation with Senga out, as Adrian Houser is probably no longer an option after being designated for assignment earlier this week. With the Mets increasingly looking like legitimate contenders, the trade deadline presents an obvious route for the Amazins to bring a new starter into the fold, though naturally such deals are difficult to find. Any new pitchers will add to New York’s already immense luxury tax bill, and president of baseball operations David Stearns might not be too keen on trading significant talent from the farm system.
Hopefully that’s all it is and he’s back by late August
His season may be in jeopardy.
Answer: Daily Double!
Hopefully the Mets make the playoffs so Senga can come back and still salvage some type of season. Bummer though, the vibes looked good last night with him on the mound.
He’s fun to watch. Hopefully it’s nothing serious
Stearns knows what he has to do next…
… pick up Dallas Kuechel off waivers
Keuchel is a free agent, having cleared waivers after being DFA’d by Milwaukee last week.
OMG….. please NO !
Lol
Or how about someone that isn’t 13-19 over the last 4 seasons with a 6.00 plus era??
He looked very sharpe. Hope it’s minor.
Sucks for the Mets. They have been playing great without him gonna have to keep doing that.
Not again! Kodai would’ve been a huge boost to their pitching staff. Now, he’s going to need to be replaced. Hopefully, a trade will come together soon.
he was going to be the sixth of a six-man rotation. they have five starters and Scott will be back in a few weeks
Don’t count on Scott until after he’s finished a rehab start or two. He may not come back this year.
Frustrating. Hoping its not Achilles, but even if not, he’s probably done this year. Mets still look like WC team regardless.
he has a strained calf muscle and depending on what grade The Strain is he could be out 1 to 3 weeks or four to six but he’ll be back this season
Probably will be back. But MRIs don’t always detect tears. Also the wording of strained and sprained is often odd. A bad sprain is a tear. But they said strain so I guess the think it isn’t. Good luck Senga.
Among the media, team officials, and medical experts, the language can vary. and is often medically inaccurate. “Sprain” refers to a stretched or torn ligament, so it’s always about a joint “Strain” seems to be a catch-all and can refer to a muscle, a tendon, or a joint where there is no ligament damage. .They usually call a severe muscle strain a “tear” though I think even a minor pulled muscle (often referred to as a “strain”) involves the tearing of muscle fiber. The hope was that this was only a cramp. The IL placement and use of the term “strain” means more damage than a cramp. When El Duque injured his calf before the 2006 Division Series, it was described as “torn” and he was unable to return before the Mets lost the NLCS to the Cardinals. We’ll have to see how severe the strain/tear is before we’ll have a sense of how long he’ll be out.
LOLmets endures even when they win.
Bummer did look good on the mound last night. He only gave up that single to JD Martinez then after Alonso reached on the error, he struck out McNeil and Vientos. He’s had 9 strikeouts in his last 3 appearances/5 innings for the Atlanta Vibes.
If I’m Atlanta, I’m more concerned about the offense. Outside of Ozuna and (I guess) Kelenic, what’s left?
To be hurt on such a play (I mean what was he even doing?) is odd. Just started galloping towards first on a popup for no apparent reason.
His role on that play is to cover first in case there was a play there because the first and second basemen were fielding the popup.. He was doing what he was supposed to. He can’t assume that the ball will be caught or that the catcher will get to first in time to cover.
The problem was I only saw a replay on my phone and thought it was a deep popup to second. My bad. The camera fooled me. Even if he hadn’t had to cover he had to get out of the way anyway.
I don’t see a cause for alarm. The team has been playing great for the last 2 months and there’s no reason to look a gift horse in the mouth.
People can troll the Mets all they want. The team is extremely fun to watch and as a fan, I’m delighted that they are competitive after a dismal start.
Speedy recovery to Senga, and let’s get the next man up!
@seeuontheulnarside spot on with
“people can troll the Mets all they want. The team is extremely fun to watch and as a fan, I’m delighted that they are competitive after a dismal start.”
Mets have existed since ‘62 and they have two WS titles. Same span of time, Braves have 2 WS titles and the Phillies have 2 WS titles. So let the Braves and Phillies fans troll all they want, they’ve had no more success at the ultimate prize than the Mets have. See who gets to 3 first!
I agree, they actually are fun to watch, there’s a good energy on the team, especially with Alvarez, Vientos, Nimmo, Lindor, JDM. The offense isn’t an issue, but the SP was barely hanging on as it was, and having Senga back was a big boost. They can still make a trade though for a reliable starter.
It’s pretty safe to say Houser’s gone, though, theoretically, he could accept the assignment then the Mets could select his contract and designate someone else. If they’re looking for an innings’ eater without giving up capital., I understand Rich Hill is looking to join a contender.
Rich Hill is a really good suggestion, though it may take him 3-4 weeks to ramp up following his signing.
And I am not sure Hill would sign until after the Trade Deadline, as as to be available to a team who missed out on someone before the deadline.
A Stearns acquisition at the deadline could make it a moot point.
I guess if the 8-10 week timeline is a fairly solid one, the Mets could put Senga back on the 60-day so another DFA wouldn’t be required to accommodate anyone else.
How players are able to get those baby cows out onto the playing field to place them in jeopardy of sustaining injury will just remain a mystery…….
Well this new MRI info is bad news for sure. So 60 day DL. Stearns needs to get a SP arm. Unless he regains the form that combined no hit PHI in 2022 – not ideal to run Megill every 5th day. Even if Scott can come back, he looks to need a bit more seasoning in AAA. If there’s any faint silver lining here, it happened before deadline so NYM can potentially make a move
This Sucks … got the win Though ….but this sucks
Fedde is a great candidate now for the NL clubs like Mets/Cards/Padres/Brewers.
Probably 1 significant position player prospect to headline and miscellaneous scouts delight.
The Mets have to respond to this by getting a starter
Another client to add to the Jack Flaherty sweepstakes. Beat Atlanta, SD, St Louis et al out for his services. Who will be the first to pay up?
I don’t think Flaherty is a good bet if you are a team trying to make a serious attempt to win the World Series. In person scouts can make a better judgement. As he throws more innings his results will probably decline but not crater.
– meaning some kind of “dead arm” loss of effectiveness.
His career results have had too much variability since he left his original team in StL. I consider him like a 3+ starter.
I would pass and let some other team overpay and be disappointed.
Just one opinion.
I don’t think he is a difference maker like Montgomery was last year.
Montgomery and Snell are still B+ pitchers but the lack of normal spring training preparation time has them struggling
Montgomery was given a period of time by AZ to work problems out which I believe was /is a smart judgement and he will finish strong and help AZ grab a WC in a competitive scramble.
ATL could be in jeopardy of missing playoffs. Good management, GM, manager etc but too many injuries will sink even the best teams.
They don’t have the almost limitless revenue resources like LAD
This is a Deja Vu feeling as a Rangers fan. In spite of DeGrom going down they kept their head above water and then took off after they added pitching at the deadline. Maybe Mets should trade for Scherzer and we could have one of those “only in baseball” moments of him leading them to WS, a year later than they expected and in a too crazy to be fiction way, and Rangers restock some during a frustrating year.
I call dibs on screenplay since I’m in this deep imagining it.
Lot of zany NYM fans online want to trade Baty for a rental. Do they ever learn? 2 months ago Vientos was a “4A” player and a “bust” according to fans. Now look at him. Patience with young players
Agree, but it seems like there’s no room for him between Vientos, Mauricio coming back, Acuna coming up
Blake Snell is allegedly available. Just take on that contract and you won’t have to send SF much of a return.
braves’ injury bug contagious
Get Skubal.
Chris Ilitch likes $ more than sports ball.
Tough break, hope he gets well soon.
DJ Stewart needs to be DFA’s asap.
Can’t Senga go to Lourdes
Or get a massage in New York by Passion Flower Shirley the Yokohama Butterfly and get this calf fixed
Two months seems like a long time for such an injury
The Mets should call Detroit to see if a package of Jett Williams, Baty, Parada and Tidwell will get us Skubal
Why didn’t the loser Mets stick to what they said in that he would go only 5 innings none of this would have happened
Was that reported, did they say he was going 5? Can you send a link?
They never said that. He himself expected to go to 100 pitches if needed.
I hope they’re working on getting a halfway decent arm for the rotation, we can’t do it like this. We’ve given up four runs already, should tell us something, our bats have become silent, hope they wake up quickly. Get Iglesias to stir everyone up again. Let’s go Mets!!!
Dam. Hate to see that on a team that seemingly preforms better than last years over hyped signings & trades. . There goes the playoff chances, even though they were only in contention for 1 day.
Ahhh The life of being a Mets Fan!
It’s just the way it goes….Next…..!