The Mets announced Tuesday that righty Kodai Senga has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to lumbar spinal inflammation. Right-hander Christian Scott has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse in his place.
Senga, the 2023 National League Rookie of the Year runner-up, has seen his standing in the Mets organization drop precipitously in recent seasons. He missed the 2024 season due to injury, came back strong early in 2025 but crumbled over the summer. Although he finished the 2025 season with a 3.02 ERA, all of Senga’s production came in the season’s first three months. He struggled so much in the summer — 6.56 ERA, eight homers, 22 walks in 35 2/3 innings — that he consented to be optioned by the Mets.
The early returns in 2026 were promising. Senga yielded only two runs with an 11-to-1 K/BB ratio in 9 2/3 spring frames. He totaled 11 2/3 innings and held opponents to four runs with a 16-to-5 K/BB ratio in his first two starts this year. He looked to be getting back on track — at least until his third start of the season. Senga was tagged for seven runs, followed with another seven-run clunker (six earned), and lasted only 2 2/3 innings (three runs allowed) in his most recent start. Over his past three turns, he’s totaled just 8 1/3 innings but been shelled for 16 earned runs on the strength of five homers — all with more walks issued (eight) than strikeouts recorded (seven).
Senga averaged a hefty 97.4 mph on his four-seamer in his 2026 debut, but it’s been downhill since then. His average fastball dipped to 96 mph in his second start and sat between 95.1 mph and 95.7 mph in each of his three subsequent starts. That’s still better-than-average velocity, but a drop of two miles per hour since March 31 certainly seems to suggest that he’s been pitching at less than 100 percent.
The Mets haven’t provided a timetable for Senga’s return. That’ll presumably come closer to today’s game, when skipper Carlos Mendoza meets with the media. Regardless, today’s injury announcement continues a worrying downward trendline for Senga. His struggles have played a notable role in the Mets’ underperformance as a whole, and getting the right-hander healthy would go a long way toward the Mets digging themselves out of the awful 9-19 hole they’ve dug in the season’s first month.
Scott, once one of the game’s top pitching prospects, will look to play his own role in that turnaround. He entered the 2024 season considered to be the Mets’ top pitching prospect and one of the top 100 prospects in the sport. He had a decent debut that summer but wound up requiring Tommy John surgery that wiped out his entire 2025 campaign. Scott made his big league return last week against the Twins, and it didn’t go well; he faced 10 batters, walking five of them and plunking a sixth. He didn’t make it out of the second inning, and the Mets optioned him back to Triple-A the following day.
That’s not a great start to his big league campaign, but Scott has had more encouraging results in Syracuse. Granted, a 5.27 ERA isn’t much to look at, but it’s come in a small sample of 13 2/3 innings. Scott was roughed up for six runs through 3 1/3 frames in his first game action since 2024, but he rebounded with just two total runs allowed across 10 1/3 innings in his next two Triple-A starts. He’s sitting on a strong 17-to-2 K/BB ratio in Syracuse, though he’s also hit a pair of batters there. Still, Scott has a nearly 30% strikeout rate and is sitting 95.4 mph on his four-seamer this year — a full mile per hour north of the 94.1 mph he averaged back in 2024.
The Mets have gotten brilliant results from rookie ace Nolan McLean and veteran Clay Holmes. Offseason acquisition Freddy Peralta had a rocky start but has strung together three sharp outings. Senga and David Peterson have struggled throughout the year. The former is now on the injured list, while the latter was moved into the bullpen for the current turn through the rotation. If Scott struggles again in Senga’s place, it’s possible Peterson will be plugged back into that rotation spot, but the situation seems fluid with several underperforming and/or injured options on the staff.
Pfff thought the cut was coming but they did this instead, no balls stearns
Why would they release him with almost three years left on his contract? Hopefully they can figure out what’s wrong with him. He pitched well early last season.
He has a broken will
So that is why he wasn’t DFA’d!
Doctor said he needs a backiotomy
That will get investigated
GHOST injury
Hahaha 🤣
I’ve said many times before that lumbar back pain is no joke. Only people that have suffered that kind of pain would understand. Crazy thing is as painful as it is. I’ve been through 1000x worse pain. After a car accident no less.
Go on . . .
Catheter
I’ll leave it at that
Back pain is no joke.
It just sounds painful.
Extremely. I would never wish anyone to get that treatment unless heavily sedated and only if highly recommend. I was fully awake for it.
Mets season is over already, it’s possible no wild card teams come out of the NL east , they may rally later in the season but they are digging too big a hole, can’t buy chemistry
The Ghost of Kōdai Senga
Stearns should place the entire Mets team on the Injured List the way they’ve been performing.
Their rotation should be Peralta, McLean, Holmes, Meyers and Scott or go with a 6 man add Manaea
Manaea has found a place as a long man in the bullpen. Keep him there where he can pitch 3 innings every 4 or 5 days. Have Myers or any other bullpen arm available as a 1 inning opener and follow that with Peterson and Manaea. That’s your 5th starter.
You sure it wasn’t the ‘waiver’ list?
This works in the Mets favor assuming Scott can shake the rust and butterflies off from his first start back in MLB since his 2024 rookie season. Their pitching staff is not that bad. The bats just play like every day is Jacob DeGrom start day. Anyone remember how DeGrom was the one who either scored or drove in the few runs in more than a handful of starts? McLean should be getting some AB’s so he can qualify the Mets for a 14th pitcher on the roster during years of control.
May be reading too much into this. They also signed two 1B to play in AAA & AA. I assume it’s depth for when they potentially DFA Vientos. Wagaman would be the preferred option because Clifford needs more development time.
DeGrom added to the lineup and they could use his bat today.
People are laughing at signing Wagaman but he got several damaging hits against them last year for Miami and seems worth a look.
Season looks bad. No chemistry. So when Soto went out no one called to check on Soto and during that time he didn’t even call to encourage the Mets thru the losing streak. Mets need to stop signing players that were rejected by the Yankees. There was a reason the Yankees didn’t sign those bums. Division title is over and best chance is a wildcard game where they only play on the road? All that money spent in the wrong areas.
Clay Holmes is an ex-Yankee and clearly not a “bum” as a starter.