Kodai Senga likely to miss the remainder of the regular season
Kodai Senga injured his left calf in his first and only regular season start to date in 2024 on Friday
The calculus for the Mets ahead of the trade deadline has become much more complex.
On Saturday afternoon, Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza said RHP Kodai Senga will likely miss the remainder of the regular season after straining his left calf during his 2024 debut on Friday night against the Braves.
Senga allowed just two runs on two hits with a walk and nine strikeouts in 5.1 IP on Friday. He injured his calf running to cover first on a pop up.
Senga, 31, had been absent for the entire season until Friday as he worked his way back from a capsule strain in his right shoulder, that which he sustained at the beginning of spring training over five months ago.
Upon his return, the Mets had planned to employ a six-man rotation which included Senga, Sean Manaea, José Quintana, David Peterson, Luis Severino, and Christian Scott. But Scott went down earlier this week with a right UCL sprain, forcing the Mets to re-inject Tylor Megill into the rotation for a start today against the Braves.
Now, Senga is likely lost for the season’s final two months.
The main reason the Mets were looking to employ a six-man rotation was due to a need to manage innings for both Severino and Scott specifically. Severino has eclipsed the 120 IP mark already in 2024, something he has not done since he threw 191 IP in 2018 because of a variety of arm injuries over the last few years. Before Scott injured his elbow, he had already eclipsed his professional high of 87.2 IP from last season, totaling 89.2 IP between the big leagues and Triple-A Syracuse.
With Scott and Senga both out indefinitely, the Mets will have to pivot with their plans for the starting rotation.
On Friday night, Mendoza said the Mets would likely employ a five-man rotation for the time being if Senga needed to miss any time, presumably by default since they recently designated both Joey Lucchesi and Adrian Houser for assignment, leaving the organization thin with depth at Triple-A. Their major league rotation as it stands right now would be Megill, Manaea, Quintana, Peterson and Severino.
The Mets could install José Buttó into the rotation to give them a sixth starter, although Buttó has excelled in his multi-inning relief role to the tune of a 0.66 ERA over a span of 13.2 IP in seven outings out of the bullpen this season. He has offered an element of stability to a very unstable situation in the Mets bullpen, so they appear to be shying away from making this change, at least for the time being.
That leaves the club with the trade market. As Andrew Steele wrote in this morning’s newsletter, options such as Eric Fedde, Jack Flaherty, Andrew Heaney, Michael Lorenzen, and perhaps Blake Snell could all be available ahead of Tuesday’s 6 PM trade deadline.
There could be other options available too, that which are not necessarily pending free agents this winter.
In any case, aside from needing to manage Severino’s innings, the Mets now unquestionably need a starting pitching upgrade.
The Mets have already acquired Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek in an effort to shore up their porous bullpen ahead of the trade deadline. They’re in need of an upgrade on the left side of their bullpen as well with Brooks Raley now out for the season with a torn UCL.
They also need to upgrade their corner outfielder situation who could eventually platoon with Starling Marte, when and if he can return from the bone bruise in his knee.
At this point, the Mets need to add a starting pitcher to their shopping list with about 72 hours to go before the deadline.
Any chance he’s back for playoffs if we make it?
Megill was fine. Tried to stretch him. But, if you look at it as three runs in six, that's fine for your #5 or 6 starters. Mets simply didn't hit. If they want to seriously think playoffs, however, a credible mid of the rotation guy at least would be rather helpful. Especially if you are worried about Severino's innings.