The New York Mets lost several rotation pieces over the offseason.
Taijuan Walker, Chris Bassitt, and most notably Jacob deGrom are gone, off to other teams and different adventures.
However, they managed to bring in capable replacements for all of them.
Justin Verlander will slot in seamlessly for deGrom, Jose Quintana will replace Walker, and an interesting, unknown arm will take Bassitt’s spot as the third starter: Kodai Senga.
Senga is an unknown commodity for MLB hitters, but he sure has dominated in Japan.
He was spotted stretching his arm in the Mets’ complex.
He wasn’t going at max effort, but it’s still very early and spring training hasn’t even started.
😎 @kodaisenga pic.twitter.com/eweSnpFINV
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) February 8, 2023
Senga is more slim than stocky, with a 6-foot frame and at approximately 180 pounds.
He is athletic, with a repeatable, over-the-top delivery.
His primary weapon is his fastball: he can pump it up in the high-90s range, sitting at 96-97 and being capable of reaching 98-99.
He also has a solid 12-6 curveball, a decent slider, a “forkball”, and a splitter.
He has excellent command of his arsenal and is ready to test all of those tools against the toughest competition in the world: MLB hitters.
In Japan, that arsenal helped him dominate for over a decade.
The 30-year-old star has a career 2.42 ERA in 11 seasons pitching in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in his native Japan.
He has pitched 1,340.2 innings and has 1,486 strikeouts.
He is still in his prime and is ready for the biggest challenge of his life.
He will try to make it in the majors just like Yu Darvish, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and many additional Japanese pitchers.
NEXT: Mets Catcher Shares The Plan To Help His Elite Staff
