New York Mets right-hander Kodai Senga made his unofficial MLB debut on Sunday, starting a spring training contest against the St. Louis Cardinals. Senga, previously part of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league, signed a five-year pact worth at least $75 million with the Mets over the offseason.
Senga, 30, lasted two innings against the Cardinals. He allowed a run on one hit (a home run by Tres Barrera) and two walks. He also struck out two of the nine batters he faced, including highly touted prospect Jordan Walker:
Kodai Senga strikes out Jordan Walker to escape the inning.
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 5, 2023
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According to Statcast, Senga averaged 97 mph on his fastball and maxed out at 98.6 mph. He generated four whiffs on 42 pitches, with one of those coming on his signature forkball.
CBS Sports ranked Senga as the 23rd best free agent available entering the offseason. Here's what we wrote at the time:
Senga, 29, is expected to pursue a big-league contract this winter after spending the first 11 seasons of his career with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league. He's an accomplished right-hander who posted a 1.89 ERA and a 3.18 strikeout-to-walk ratio this season across 148 innings. Senga's best pitches are his lively mid-90s fastball and his devastating "ghost" forkball, a true out pitch in the majors or anywhere else. He's capable of stair-stepping with that combination, raising the heat before burying the fork. (If he lands in Chicago, maybe his nickname should be The Bear?) He also throws a decent curveball.
Senga was one of several notable additions the Mets made to their rotation this winter. New York also signed Justin Verlander and José Quintana in an effort to replace departing free agents Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker, and Chris Bassitt.
