Senga debuts for Mets, ‘excited to be in a real game’
JUPITER, Fla. — Kodai Senga had a bunch of stuff to course of throughout his first begin in a Mets uniform Sunday afternoon at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
To start with, this was the 30-year-old right-hander’s first Spring Training outing, and there was a horde of Japanese media readily available to file it. In addition to the standard Mets contingent, there additionally was that new pitch timer continually reminding him how a lot time he needed to ship every pitch. And staring him down on the plate was the intimidating Cardinals lineup that included Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Jordan Walker, who has been wielding a red-hot bat this spring.
So it was comprehensible that the nerves may be slightly amped up for Senga, whom the Mets signed as a free agent in December. It definitely appeared so within the first inning when Senga issued back-to-back walks to Brendan Donovan and Tyler O’Neill, the primary two St. Louis batters he confronted. But the nerves calmed, and Senga promptly pitched out of the early jam by retiring Goldschmidt and Arenado on an infield popup and flyout to proper. Then he sat down Walker, whom Senga made look foolish on a swinging third strike with what has been labeled his ghost pitch, a devastating splitter that fully fooled Walker.
Senga, by an interpreter, dismissed nerves as an excuse for his shaky first inning. He wanted 27 pitches to get by the body.
“I was just excited to be in a real game,” mentioned Senga, whose pitching routine earlier than Sunday had been solely towards Mets hitters in batting apply.
Senga’s second inning was way more composed. He retired the primary two batters earlier than giving up a solo residence run to Tres Barrera on a 1-1 pitch however induced an infield popup for the third out to finish his debut. His pitching line: two innings, one hit, two walks, two strikeouts on 42 pitches, 24 of them for strikes. He was credited with the win because the Mets staked him to a 4-0 lead earlier than he exited the sport en path to beating the Cardinals 7-1.
Overall, Senga was largely blissful along with his outing however admitted he might need been too obsessive about the pitch timer.
“It was a good experience for me,” he mentioned. “I was battling the clock a little bit. Obviously that’s a very good lineup they have over there, especially the 3-4 guys [Goldschmidt and Arenado]. Before I got up there, I was very excited to face those guys, but once I was up there, my mind was kind of looking over at the pitch clock and couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to. I see five [seconds] on the pitch clock and I feel very rushed, but in reality five seconds is quite a long time, so [I’m] just getting used to that.”
Mets supervisor Buck Showalter was very happy with what he noticed, particularly underneath the circumstances and the best way Senga dealt with the feelings that include such an vital second in his profession.
“He showed us everything that we were hoping to see,” Showalter mentioned. “That was first outing for him. I’m pleased with him. I do know this was a giant second for him. His off-speed pitch was good, breaking ball was good, fastball was agency, as marketed. I appreciated his outing, and I appreciated his pitch repertoire. Before immediately, I might have taken that outing for certain.”
Showalter mentioned he’s not too involved about Senga adjusting to no matter points he might need with the pitch timer.
“If he was slow [to start his windup], it would be a problem,” Showalter mentioned. “Slowing them down is so much simpler than rushing ‘em up. Thought we were going to have to get him out of there in [the first inning], maybe re-enter, but I think the first pitch or two there was something with the clock and then he kind of settled in. He’s athlete, he’s good and he’s going to determine it out. He needed to make changes in Japan to issues. It’s outing to construct on. Like I mentioned, I’m proud of it. He appeared to deal with it emotionally actual effectively.
“You also think about the long journey he’s had to get here. He had to work and grind for everything to even get in the big leagues in Japan. One of the things that was attractive to us about him was he had to earn his way everywhere. He wasn’t some guy that was anointed early. To get here, it’s a moment for him.”
Suffice it to say that Senga met the problem and rose to the event Sunday.
