Jun 23, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets pitcher Kodai Senga (34) look up after giving up a three run home run during the second inning to Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (not pictured) at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
For one brief moment, Kodai Senga looked like the 2023 version of himself, in which he was one of the best pitchers in the National League. His fastball touched 99 mph, he struck out a pair, and retired the Chicago Cubs in quick succession.
Then it disappeared.
He walked Seiya Suzuki to lead off the second, gave up a single to Ian Happ, and hit Matt Shaw. He issued another free pass to Carson Kelly to bring in a run, and after a Dansby Swanson sacrifice fly, Pete Crow-Armstrong’s three-run shot put the Cubs up 5-0 in a flash. With one out in the fourth, he walked Kelly again, and Swanson took him out to make it a 7-2 game.
Senga did not get out of the fourth inning: 3.2 innings pitched, seven runs, three hits, five walks, six strikeouts. In his two starts since returning from the injured list, just 7.2 innings, he has allowed 11 runs on five hits with seven walks.
“That’s the frustrating part,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He goes out there in that first inning and that’s the guy you hope that he’s capable of being, just blowing that fastball by people. Then, the second inning, he gets away from it, and we’re sitting there in the dugout kind of asking ourselves like, ‘What’s going on here?’ It happens so quick, it’s hard to explain. Just frustrating.”
The Mets are well past the point of moving on from Senga, who now owns a 10.08 ERA in seven starts this season and has not been the same pitcher since hitting the injured list last June. A demotion late last season to sort out his broken mechanics did not help, and a full, healthy spring provided little improvement, either.
His dud came just hours after president of baseball operations David Stearns said that he is going to be handling the rotation by a “turn-by-turn evaluation.” The problem is that the Mets have zero starting-pitching depth. It’s why Senga even had a place to return to after his latest IL stint.
But at this rate, almost anything else in the organization can at least offer a slight improvement — even if it is not necessarily catching lightning in a bottle.
“David was pretty clear before the game that performance matters here,” Mendoza said. “Having outings like this is not going to cut it. I’m pretty sure we’re going to have decisions, but that ain’t gonna do it. We need better. They know that, but we get to a point where you have to go out there and earn it. “
Mendoza announced on Wednesday morning that Senga would be moved to the bullpen.
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