New York Mets right-hander Kodai Senga was scratched from his scheduled Saturday start because of discomfort at the base of his right index finger, the club announced. He later underwent imaging exams that revealed tendinitis. He's considered day-to-day, according to the team. Manager Buck Showalter, for his part, told reporters after the game that Senga likely would have pitched through the injury if it had occurred during the regular season.
Earlier this offseason, the Mets signed the 30-year-old hurler out of Japan to a five-year, $75 million free-agent contract. Senga was an accomplished moundsman in Japan over his 11-year career in NPB, and in 2023 he's expected to stabilize the middle of the New York rotation behind Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. In his first and thus far only start this spring, Senga on March 5 allowed one run on one hit in two innings of work against the Cardinals. Over that span, he struck out two and walked two.
CBS Sports ranked Senga as the 23rd best free agent available this offseason, writing the following:
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.
The Senga news comes not long after the Mets lost veteran right-hander Jose Quintana was diagnosed with a small stress fracture in his rib cage. Quintana still does not have a clear timetable for his return. Needless to say, being two starters down not even halfway through spring training is far from optimal. On the upside, neither is an arm injury, and Opening Day is still more than two weeks away.
