If the Mets are still fighting for a Wild Card spot during the final week of the season, they will have to earn it the hard way, with road series against the Braves and Brewers. Could they have a secret weapon available to help?
According to Tim Britton of The Athletic, "the Mets think there's a chance" that Kodai Senga -- who was all but ruled out for the remainder of the regular season after suffering a high-grade calf strain -- could pitch one of the final five games of the season against Atlanta or Milwaukee.
Senga, who is on the 60-day IL after suffering the calf injury during his first start of the season on July 24, is eligible to come off the IL on Sept. 25.
The hope until now had been that Senga could possibly make it back for the postseason, should the Mets get there, but having him available to start one of the final five games of the regular season could be enormous.
Last Friday, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said that Senga -- who has been throwing while seated -- could start throwing while standing within the next week to 10 days.
"He’s still going through the initial stages of the recovery," Stearns said. "The good news is because it is a lower-body injury he’s able to keep his arm going but we haven’t done any upright throwing yet. We’re still in immobilized throwing. So, I can’t answer the question on his likelihood for October. We need to get him upright and throwing, see how his arm responds and then we’ll have a better idea of where this is headed."
In his only big league appearance this season, Senga was dominant, allowing two runs on two hits in 5.1 innings while walking one and striking out nine against the Braves at Citi Field.
In addition to a potentially late-season jolt from Senga, the Mets could also get Christian Scott back before the season ends.
Scott, who is working his way back from a UCL injury, has been throwing regularly, and is now at a "higher intensity," Mendoza said earlier this week.
The expectation is that Scott will return at some point in September if all continues to go well.