Kodai Senga made his third rehab begin yesterday — his second with Triple-A Syracuse — and tossed 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball whereas constructing as much as 67 pitches. Supervisor Carlos Mendoza instructed the Mets beat yesterday that Senga’s subsequent steps are “TBD” (X hyperlink by way of MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo), however the righty is on the cusp of an enormous league return a method or one other. At most, Senga would require yet another rehab tune-up, although Mendoza’s feedback depart the door open for the right-hander’s subsequent outing to come back on the main league degree. Newsday’s Tim Healey tweeted earlier than Senga’s outing that the Mets need the right-hander to have the ability to throw 75 to 80 pitches earlier than activating him.
Senga’s looming return is an apparent boon for a Mets rotation that has pitched fairly nicely over the previous month. Going again to June 15, Mets starters have a 3.62 ERA that’s tied with Kansas Metropolis for seventh within the majors. Veteran lefties Jose Quintana (2.00 ERA) and Sean Manaea (2.05) have been excellent prior to now 30 days, as has southpaw David Peterson (2.33). Luis Severino hasn’t been almost as sharp however has been the Mets’ finest starter on the season total, sitting at a 3.78 ERA in a team-leading 109 2/3 frames. High prospect Christian Scott is getting one other look within the large leagues as nicely and up to now has a 4.36 ERA in 43 1/3 innings.
Including Senga to that blend will each deepen the group and considerably elevate its ceiling. The 2023 NL Rookie of the 12 months runner-up dominated to a 2.98 ERA and 29.1% strikeout fee in 29 begins final season (166 1/3 innings). A wholesome Senga would slot right into a theoretical postseason rotation for the Mets — doubtless beginning Sport 1 if that they had the luxurious of qualifying early sufficient to set their playoff rotation within the order of their selecting. Joel Sherman of the New York Put up writes that the Mets are planning to go to a six-man rotation as soon as Senga is able to return.
The outlook on outfielder Starling Marte isn’t almost so rosy. The 35-year-old veteran has been out since June 22 resulting from a bone bruise in his knee, and Mendoza acknowledged simply yesterday that Marte’s restoration has been slower than anticipated (X hyperlink by way of DiComo). The Mets are “undecided when he’ll be again,” per Mendoza, who famous that Marte has not but resumed baseball actions and isn’t anticipated to take action within the close to future.
Previous to his harm, Marte was within the midst of a robust rebound marketing campaign. He posted a career-worst .248/.301/.324 batting line in 2023 — the second season of a four-year, $78MM contract — however slashed .278/.328/.416 in 66 video games/266 plate appearances by way of the primary two-plus months of the present marketing campaign. The seven dwelling runs Marte swatted previous to his present IL journey have been two greater than the 5 homers he hit in a bigger pattern of 86 video games and 341 plate appearances final 12 months.
Each Brandon Nimmo and Harrison Bader have been regulars within the outfield, and in Marte’s absence New York has given some further outfield reps to Jeff McNeil. He’s been joined by Tyrone Taylor, DJ Stewart and Ben Gamel — the latter of whom has primarily been a late-game alternative since developing from Syracuse (12 plate appearances in 9 video games).
Relying on how lengthy Marte is anticipated to overlook, including a bat to that outfield combine may very well be prudent for a Mets membership that has performed its manner again into Wild Card rivalry. None of McNeil, Stewart, Taylor or Gamel has been even a median hitter in 2024.
Be that as it could, the Mets stay targeted on bullpen assist in the intervening time, per each Sherman and his Put up colleague Jon Heyman. The Mets already added one bullpen arm when the successfully bought veteran righty Phil Maton from the Rays final week, however extra strikes to deal with the reduction corps will doubtless be on the horizon, barring a calamitous shedding streak that tanks the workforce’s playoff odds.
