Kodai Senga’s first start of his 2025 season got off to a horrible start – allowing two runs on two hits in just four pitches – but the Mets' right-hander settled in to deliver a commendable effort in a 4-2 loss at the Miami Marlins on Tuesday.
“I think I lacked a little bit of calmness, just kind of giving them easy pitches to hit,” Senga said of the two extra-base hits to start the game through an interpreter. “I was just a little relieved to be back out there in a big-league game after the year that he had last year and that led to bad results.”
The first inning has been the bugaboo his entire career, as he has a 4.65 ERA in that frame, the highest for any inning. But after that, the right-hander really went to work and toyed with the Marlins lineup.
Senga got the first two batters of the second inning swinging through forkballs before the forkball got all three batters swinging in the third inning.
Carlos Mendoza called the first two batters a “wake-up call” for the right-hander. “Other than the first two batters of the game,” he said. “He was really good.”
The starter concurred with the manager: “After that, I was able to sort out through my head what I need to do, all the data on how to approach the hitters, and that turned out to be effective.”
Overall, he threw 77 pitches through five innings, with 22 forkballs and 22 four-seam fastballs topping out his mix. But the forkball was most effective, getting nine whiffs on 15 swings.
But Senga is a harsher grader than most: “It was not bad, not great, but not bad,” he said of the forkball.
“First time throwing to [Luis] Torrens in a big league game, so I think there are some adjustments that are going to be continued to be made and I think he did a great job using it and that’s why I was able to perform decently," he said. “I think it’s gonna be better throughout the rest of the season.”
Despite the harsh self-critique, there were positives to take from his first outing of the season. Senga said he was able to “get his rhythm” and settled in very nicely to put the first four pitches behind him.
"I only threw about five innings in a big league game last year, and that's why a lot of the rhythm part... was gone," he said. "How much to push and step on it earlier on in the game. And I think you could see my velo was a little bit higher toward the end of the game.
"I was able to grasp a little bit of that and able to get a lot out of this outing."
Senga closed on a high note, blowing a 97 mph fastball past Kyle Stowers for his eighth strikeout, making his final pitch the fastest he threw of the night by 1.2 mph.