QUEENS, NY — The Mets do not have to figure out where they are putting struggling starting pitcher Kodai Senga, after all, as the right-hander was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Monday, with lumbar spine inflammation.
Senga began feeling discomfort in his lower back and right hip after his outing on Sunday, in which he was tagged for three runs on three hits with three walks in just 2.2 innings of work.
It was the third straight start in which he failed to complete four innings, with an ERA of 17.28 during that stretch. Manager Carlos Mendoza said postgame on Sunday that he was going to have a conversation with president of baseball operations David Stearns on how to deal with Senga moving forward. Senga himself said he was unsure whether he would accept a demotion to Triple-A, which he did to end the 2025 season after his mechanics were irreparably damaged following a calf injury.
Senga got an epidural and will not throw for seven to 10 days before being reassessed.
Now with his spot in the rotation officially open, the Mets are returning David Peterson from the bullpen to start Wednesday’s matchup with the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. The southpaw had been solid in his two multi-inning relief outings, yielding one run on seven hits in seven innings.
“He earned it,” Mendoza said Tuesday. “He’s been throwing the ball well, and here he is getting another opportunity.”
Christian Scott has been recalled from Triple-A and will start New York’s series opener in Los Angeles against the Angels on Friday. On Thursday, the righty made his first big-league appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2024, but lasted just 1.1 innings in which he walked five Minnesota Twins.
“We knew when we called him up, it wasn’t going to be one outing, but we needed to send him down because of the [thin] bullpen situation,” Mendoza said. “Now that we have an IL situation, let’s bring him up here because we told him the other day that you’re going to make a lot of starts for us.”
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Juan Soto, who returned on Wednesday from a 15-game absence due to a strained calf muscle, has yet to play a defensive game in the outfield because he is dealing with forearm tightness.
Soto will continue to serve as the Mets’ designated hitter until he gets the green light to get back in the outfield.
The 27-year-old complained of the issue after doing defensive work on Friday. He threw from 50 to 60 feet on Sunday and felt the same issue, prompting the team to order an MRI on Tuesday. Those results came back negative, which provides a sigh of relief for a team that will be without Francisco Lindor (calf) for the foreseeable future.
“He’s going to continue to get treatment, he’s going to throw, and hopefully, he can play the outfield in the next few days,” Mendoza said. “It doesn’t bother him to swing or anything like that.”
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Center fielder Luis Robert Jr. was held out of Tuesday night’s lineup against the Nationals due to lower-back stiffness, which held him out of the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Rockies.
Mendoza said he is considered day-to-day and is receiving treatment. No further testing is needed, but the team will get a better idea in the next 48 hours.
After a hot start to life in Queens, Robert has cooled significantly, batting .132 with a .364 OPS in his last 10 games. The team will likely proceed with caution, as the 28-year-old has not played a full season due to ongoing injury issues since 2023.
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