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Kodai Senga’s return to the mound for the Mets on Tuesday night was less than stellar after he allowed four earned runs in the first inning, but the right-hander did enough in the final three innings of his outing to earn himself another start.
“Pretty sure he will,” manager Carlos Mendoza said about Senga making his next scheduled start.
Still, neither the skipper nor the right-hander was thrilled with how Senga threw the ball against the Cincinnati Reds in a 5-3 loss and he’ll need to be much better in the future than he was in his first start in nearly two months following a lengthy IL stint.
“First time back out there on a big league mound in a little while, just wasn’t able to gather it all together in the beginning,” Senga said through an interpreter.
The biggest problem in Senga’s start was his command as he walked four while trying to establish his forkball which wasn’t great on Tuesday.
And while he admits his forkball wasn’t as sharp as he wanted it to be, he also thinks the Reds were making a conscious effort to not swing at anything down in the zone, even when he threw some good forkballs.
“Some of those forkballs weren’t in the zone to start off with, they were ball to ball so that’s not gonna work very well. But even with the good ones too, I could tell that they weren’t swinging at anything down below the zone, they’re not chasing,” he said.
After that, Senga switched over to his slider, sinker and sweeper which played better against the Reds hitters.
The results proved that the change in approach worked as he didn’t allow a hit in the final three innings, although he did walk two more, while striking out five on the night. Nevertheless, the damage was already done after the four-run first inning.
“Obviously the first three batters of the game, not ideal,” Mendoza said. “Not what you want to see right away… I thought he found that sweeper, the slider, but they got him there early on.”
“Because those last three innings were effective, the first inning is frustrating,” Senga added.
In all, Senga went four innings and allowed four earned runs on two hits and four walks while striking out five on 82 pitches (46 strikes). His ERA stayed put at 9.00, and even though it wasn’t his best performance, it’s one he will work upon as he looks to get his season and career back on track.
“As long as I’m able to prepare the way I should prepare between outings I should be able to go out there and be effective and that’s the goal,” Senga said.
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“Pretty sure he will,” manager Carlos Mendoza said about Senga making his next scheduled start.
Still, neither the skipper nor the right-hander was thrilled with how Senga threw the ball against the Cincinnati Reds in a 5-3 loss and he’ll need to be much better in the future than he was in his first start in nearly two months following a lengthy IL stint.
“First time back out there on a big league mound in a little while, just wasn’t able to gather it all together in the beginning,” Senga said through an interpreter.
The biggest problem in Senga’s start was his command as he walked four while trying to establish his forkball which wasn’t great on Tuesday.
And while he admits his forkball wasn’t as sharp as he wanted it to be, he also thinks the Reds were making a conscious effort to not swing at anything down in the zone, even when he threw some good forkballs.
“Some of those forkballs weren’t in the zone to start off with, they were ball to ball so that’s not gonna work very well. But even with the good ones too, I could tell that they weren’t swinging at anything down below the zone, they’re not chasing,” he said.
After that, Senga switched over to his slider, sinker and sweeper which played better against the Reds hitters.
The results proved that the change in approach worked as he didn’t allow a hit in the final three innings, although he did walk two more, while striking out five on the night. Nevertheless, the damage was already done after the four-run first inning.
“Obviously the first three batters of the game, not ideal,” Mendoza said. “Not what you want to see right away… I thought he found that sweeper, the slider, but they got him there early on.”
“Because those last three innings were effective, the first inning is frustrating,” Senga added.
In all, Senga went four innings and allowed four earned runs on two hits and four walks while striking out five on 82 pitches (46 strikes). His ERA stayed put at 9.00, and even though it wasn’t his best performance, it’s one he will work upon as he looks to get his season and career back on track.
“As long as I’m able to prepare the way I should prepare between outings I should be able to go out there and be effective and that’s the goal,” Senga said.
Continue reading...
