The Mets win again! And could Kodai Senga win the NL Cy Young award?
New York gets another chance to impact the Wild Card race with the Reds coming to town
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What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets pounded the Diamondbacks 11-1 at Citi Field on Wednesday (Box)
Kodai Senga was the story in this one, firing six scoreless innings to earn his 11th win
Jeff McNeil and Jonathan Arauz both hit home runs on Thursday afternoon
Brandon Nimmo collected two hits and drove in a pair of runs
D.J. Stewart hit clean-up and continued his torrid 2nd half with two more RBI
Pete Alonso drove in his 109th run of the season
Phil Bickford and Jeff Brigham mopped up the final three innings in the laugher
The Mets took three of four from Arizona this week to win their 2nd consecutive home series.
Roster Moves 🗞️
Claimed former prospect LHP Anthony Kay off waivers from the Cubs, optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse
Injury Updates 🏥
Brett Baty underwent imaging which revealed a mild groin strain. He is day-to-day
Prospect Watch 🔎
RHP Joander Suárez (Double-A): 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 9 K
RHP Mike Vasil (No. 9 prospect, Triple-A): 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (68-78) vs Reds (76-72)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, New York
Starting pitchers: LHP David Peterson (3-8, 5.34 ERA) vs. RHP Hunter Greene (4-6, 4.43 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Is Kodai Senga becoming the front runner for the NL Cy Young award? ✍️
The Mets understandably were excited to add righty Kodai Senga to their rotation this winter. The 30-year-old had been one of the best starting pitchers in Japan for several seasons, and New York was ecstatic to bring his dynamic arsenal to its pitching staff. That said, could the Mets have really known Senga would be just this good?
On a staff that was supposed to include veteran future Hall of Famers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, Senga has been by far the Mets best pitcher all season long—even before the two aces were traded away.
New York eased him into pitching in Major League Baseball, often giving him an extra day of rest when possible, not pushing him deep into games early on, and generally trying to protect him as he got his feet wet.
But once the training wheels so to speak came off, Senga has emerged as one of the every best starting pitchers in the National League, and he quite possibly could be turning into one of the favorites to win the NL Cy Young award.
In 27 starts, he’s earned 11 victories and pitched to a stellar 2.95 ERA with a 1.21 WHIP. Opponents have managed to hit a measly .205 against him, and he’s punched out 191 hitters in 155.1 innings.
Senga was named to the all-star team in July, and his performance, especially in the 2nd half, has me wondering that if he’s not the NL Cy Young, then who is?
His biggest competition seemingly comes in the form of a pair of lefties, San Diego’s Blake Snell and Chicago’s Justin Steele.
Snell currently has the best ERA in the NL at 2.43, has won 14 games, and already has 217 strikeouts. He’s also made three more starts than Senga has. His 1.22 WHIP is essentially exactly the same, but getting deep into games has never been Snell’s strong point, as he’s only thrown 12 more innings than Senga despite the sizeable difference in outings.
Steele is a lesser-known name nationally, but he’s been simply phenomenal for the Cubs in 2023. In 27 starts he’s gone 16-3 with a 2.49 ERA across 159 innings. He’s punched out exactly a hitter/inning, has an impressive 1.13 WHIP, and is one of the driving forces behind the Cubs unlikely run to a postseason berth.
As the second half has gone on it’s become increasingly evident that this has become a three-horse race, and if we’re calling a spade a spade Senga is probably third in the running at the moment.
But these things can change in a hurry, and if Snell and Steele endure a subpar outing or two over the final two weeks it would give Senga an opening to close the gap.
Regardless of if he can or can’t ultimately claim the hardware, Senga has certainly proven himself to be one of the lone bright spots on a disappointing Mets team, and he’s now positioned to be this team’s ace heading into the future.
Notes 🎵
His 11 wins are tied with Hunter Brown and JP France for the most among qualified rookies
First Met rookie to have at least 11 wins since Dillon Gee in 2011
Struck out 10 batters for the fifth time this season, tying Noah Syndergaard
for the second-most double-digit strikeout games by a Mets rookie in
club history, second only to Dwight Gooden (15)
Ranks fourth among qualified players in opponent batting average at .205
Has a 2.35 ERA at home this season, the fourth-best among qualified pitchers
Around the League 🚩
Luke Raley crushed a go-ahead solo homer in the 7th to help the Rays beat the Orioles 4-3 and pull within a skinny game of the O’s in the high stakes AL East race
RHP Mitch Keller tossed eight scoreless innings in the Pirates shutout win over Washington
In the four-team melee for the final NL Wild Card spot, the Reds, Diamondbacks, and Marlins all lost and the Giants got rained out