When Kodai Senga was done with a nice, improved pitching performance versus the trio of stars and before a host of Mets luminaries, he received a fist bump from pitching coach Jeremy Hefner.
Only two days later, it became more evident why the Mets paid $75 million over five years to bring in Senga to replaced Chris Bassitt — their most consistent starter a year ago — in the middle of the Mets’ vaunted rotation. It isn’t exactly clear whether he’s already making the necessary adjustments to the bigger ball and the steeper slope of the mound , or simply thrives on increased attention.
Cohen, Christie and their entourage stationed themselves between a batting cage and the netting behind home for optimal viewing. But of course no one had a better view than the trio of Mets stars, who appeared here to give Senga his first early test. While McNeil roped the first pitch — a 98 mph heater to deep center — and Lindor also hit a bullet to the same area, the trio expressed faith in Senga’s ability and relief they won’t have to face him for real.
“He looked really good, really sharp. His stuff looks really good, nice and crisp,” Alonso said. “I’m happy he’s on our side.” Senga himself said he threw only one good splitter , the one that fooled Alonso for a strikeout. But while Showalter apparently isn’t a fan of mythology , Mets players seemed to relish in the mythmaking.“It’s a different shape of a pitch,” McNeil said.Alonso was asked to describe it, but decided he didn’t see it well enough.Senga revealed that the pitch originally got its fun nickname about a decade ago when his forkball “disappeared” in the words of hitters who were flummoxed by it.
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