Starling Marte feels good heading into camp, and the extra caution around Kodai Senga
The outfielder is hoping to bounce back from an injury plagued season in 2023
What’s up with the Mets? 🍎
Starling Marte told reporters he is fully healthy and doesn’t have to worry about his legs heading into camp (MLB.com)
Jake Diekman is hoping that what he learned while with the Rays translates to a successful season in Queens (MLB.com)
Pete Alonso pledged a donation to animal rescues for every home run he hits this season - he will donate $1000 per home run hit
The team will be sticking to a similar plan as last season when it comes to Kodai Senga’s usage this year (Athletic)
David Stearns remains confident the 2024 Mets are a playoff caliber team (Post)
Mets need to play it safe with Kodai Senga ✍️
Once again in 2024 Kodai Senga will pitch with an extra day of rest this season, similar to how they deployed him last season.
It was a small sample size but in three games with four days rest in 2023, Senga’s ERA was 4.61, whereas with five days rest it was 3.04 and with six his ERA dropped even further to 2.45.
It was unquestionably a great strategy for Senga’s first year in the majors and something they should stick to for his sophomore season.
The extra days of rest kept their new ace healthy for the entire year which will become even more crucial this season. With the revamped rotation, more will be riding on Senga’s shoulders to repeat his performance from last year if the Mets are going to be in the playoffs come October.
Consider this - last season, Senga came in as more or less an unknown number three starter. But with both Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander having departed, Senga is now the Mets ace on paper. As such, the Mets have to be extra cautious in how they go about protecting Senga and in turn, the rest of the rotation.
Even so, strategizing around Senga will unfortunately put more pressure on the rest of the rotation, which as it currently stands, is already under immense pressure with a bunch of big question marks to boot.
José Quintana is being asked to pitched like a number two when in actuality he is more of a middle of the rotation arm, Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, and Adrian Houser need to recapture some lost magic of their past seasons, and the Mets will unquestionably need Tylor Megill and what is being touted as his new “elite” splitter to take a major step forward in his career.
The Mets can ill afford for the rest of the rotation to suffer while they are trying to manage Senga’s workload so depth will become important.
In addition to Megill, Joey Lucchesi, José Butto, and Mike Vasil will need to step up during the long stretches when the team does not have an off day, a spot starter is needed or if someone goes down with an injury. Christian Scott is a dark horse option as well if he continues to rise through the ranks of the system.
The rotation might become a juggling act for Jeremy Hefner and Carlos Mendoza but if this team has playoff aspirations, Senga will need to be both healthy and productive at the end of the season.
And, they’ll probably need to procure another starter at the trade deadline if this team is for real.
Hot Stove 🔥
The Orioles acquired LHP Matt Krook from the Yankees in exchange for cash considerations
The Yankees remain interested in LHP Blake Snell despite moving on from him during the offseason (USA Today)
The Giants are reportedly bringing Pablo Sandoval back as a non-roster invitee (MLB.com)
Bryce Harper showed up to camp as the Phillies’ full-time first baseman after moving to the position in July last year (MLB.com)