Kodai Senga was well on his way to his third straight quality start for the New York Mets Thursday as the All-Star righty dominated the Washington Nationals. Then, suddenly, Senga exited the game with a hamstring injury. The Mets later announced he’d be placed on the injured list.
Manager Carlos Mendoza addressed the disheartening development following New York’s 4-3 victory. “You hate to see anybody go down, especially a guy like Senga, after what he went through last year,” Mendoza acknowledged, per Will Sammon of The Athletic.
“I keep saying it. Injuries happen. We feel for him. But no one is going to feel sorry for us. We got people coming. And the guys that are healthy now will continue to step up. We feel good with our chances with the guys we have in that room. We gotta keep going. We will get him back,” Mendoza added.
The Mets’ rotation is in trouble with loss of Kodai Senga
Senga had been cruising against Washington before the injury. He allowed one hit and one walk while striking out five batters in 5.2 shutout innings. But while covering first base on a C.J. Abrams grounder Senga needed to leap to corral a high throw from Pete Alonso. He came down on the bag to record the out but landed awkwardly, immediately clutching at the back of his right leg and tumbling to the ground.
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After being checked on by Mets trainers, Senga was able to walk off the field on his own. But it was abundantly clear that the third-year starter would miss time. He left Thursday’s game with two outs in the fifth inning and the Mets leading 4-0. Senga had only thrown 77 pitches to that point..
New York used four relievers over the final 3.1 innings but held on for the 4-3 win. Senga is now 7-3 on the season with a major league-leading 1.47 ERA. He began the day with a National League-best 238 ERA+ and 2.4 bWAR.
Senga’s strong start comes one day after David Peterson tossed a complete-game shutout against the Nationals. The Mets’ rotation was looking sharp, leading the majors in ERA (2.84). Now the team will be without its ace as he recovers from his hamstring ailment.
Perhaps the injury will encourage the Mets to call up top pitching prospect Brandon Sproat. The 24-year-old righty has made 20 starts for Triple-A Syracuse since 2024 and New York is suddenly in need of starting pitching with Senga and Frankie Montas sidelined.
Still, the Mets have been hot. They’ve won six straight games, including back-to-back series sweeps against the Rockies and the Nationals. New York is now 45-24 with a 5.5 game lead over the Phillies in the NL East.
