Senga K’s five in strong start vs. Nationals

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — After being scratched from his begin on March 11 due to tendinitis on the base of his proper index finger, Mets right-hander Kodai Senga was again on the mound Thursday night and was strong in a 3-0 loss to the Nationals.

Senga pitched three innings, threw 47 pitches and allowed one run on three hits. The lone run got here within the first inning when Lane Thomas scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Call. After that, Senga retired seven of the subsequent 9 hitters he confronted, 5 by way of strikeout, together with 4 consecutive strikeouts to finish his outing. His velocity ranged from 81 to 97 mph. Senga didn’t throw his signature split-finger fastball. Instead, he was engaged on different pitches just like the cutter and the sweeper slider.

“[The pitches] are new grips I developed this past offseason,” Senga stated via an interpreter. “Going into this outing, those are pitches I wanted to work on. It just naturally happened.”

The ends in the field rating weren’t the one factor he was happy with. Senga adjusted to the pitch timer. In his final outing on March 5 towards the Cardinals, he was speeding his pitches as a result of he was paying an excessive amount of consideration to the timer. In that sport, Senga allowed a run in two innings.

“[The pitch timer] didn’t play a factor this time,” Senga stated. “I was able to control my pitches pretty well.”

Senga likes the way in which the spring goes, and says he’s about 80 % prepared for the season. Senga is in his first season enjoying Major League Baseball after spending the final 11 seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball group, all for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

“I’m progressing really well,” Senga stated.