Could Senga return as ace reliever? ‘That’s up to them’
Kodai Senga, ace reliever? It’s at least a possibility.
Senga, who has appeared in just one game this season due to a series of maladies including a strained right shoulder capsule and a strained left calf, said before the Mets’ 4-1 win vs. Boston on Monday that he’s open to the idea of coming out of the bullpen in late September and October if he’s healthy enough to do so.
Be there for the Mets’ playoff push with $5 Tuesday tickets
“Given where we are in the season, realistically, am I going to be able to throw five, six innings as a starter? Probably not,” Senga said through interpreter Hiro Fujiwara. “Whether they use me as a starter or in the bullpen, that’s up to them. I just want to be ready to throw as many innings as possible for the team.”
For now, the idea of Senga as a reliever remains more theoretical than anything. Between now and Sept. 25, the day he’s eligible to come off the injured list, Senga must ramp up with a series of bullpen sessions, then face hitters and potentially appear in rehab games.
But Senga is trending well enough that both he and manager Carlos Mendoza consider it possible for him to return from the IL on that date.
They’ll know more once he starts throwing bullpens, which Senga said should happen “very soon.”
“If that guy’s healthy, any way you can put him, whether it’s a starter or on a pitch count or out of the bullpen, those are some of the conversations that we will be having with him,” Mendoza said. “The biggest thing is that we’ve got to get him back feeling 100 percent and healthy and somehow helping us win baseball games — which if he’s 100 percent, he will.
