Apr 01, 2026
3 min read
Senga averaged 97.4 mph with his four-seamer, the hardest he has ever thrown in a major league game.
ST.LOUIS - There are nights early in the season when results are less important than individual performances.For the Mets, Tuesday's 3-0 loss to the Cardinals was less about what their offense couldn't do and more about what Kodai Senga could do.
In his first regular season start since being demoted to the minor leagues at the end of last season, Senga became the first Mets player to go six innings in 2026. He allowed two runs on four hits and struck out nine more than he did last year.
"The last time I went on the mound, I had to think about my body and make sure it was doing what I needed," Senga said through translator Hiro Fujiwara."Today, I didn't have to worry about that. I really felt like I was a rookie pitcher again."
Senga has shown confidence throughout the year that he can be different, if not better, than 2025.There's plenty of evidence to support that, the right-hander's tendency to hit 97 mph and climb with his fastball wasn't there last year in St. Louis.Lucy, Fla.
Tuesday, Senga in St.Louis like Senga in St.Lucie, live up to that early optimism.His first pitch of the night was a 98-mph fastball.In the second inning, he hit back-to-back Cardinals with 99-mph heaters.In the night, Senga averaged 97.4 mph with his four-seamer - the strongest he has ever thrown in a major league game and almost three mph.stronger than last season's average.
Manager Carlos Mendoza said: "The striker has to be ready for that kind of speed and, besides, you have a lot more movement than his other pitches. "He has a lot to balance.
Because Senga has been working on his touch early in the game, he relies on his fastball.Six of Senga's nine strikeouts came on his four players and he had seven swings and misses on the field.He hasn't hit nine in a game since the start of the 2024 singles season. He had more than seven hits with a fastball just once in his last start of the 2023 season.
When asked how good his fastball was last time, Senga replied, “I don’t remember.”
Senga carried that momentum from the first innings into the sixth, hitting 97 and 98 on his final two pitches.
And Velo's pitching was consistent throughout.His cutter and sinker were in the 90s, his slider was in the 85s, and his pitching fork was in the 84s. Getting his slider to 85 is seen as particularly important in analytics circles. Senga's slider averaged less than 84 mph last year.
"It's just controlling my body, manipulating what I need to manipulate," Senga said."Mechanics have to work a certain way to get that veil. I didn't do it, but this year and today I did it."
Senga generated 16 swings and misses on the night.He only surpassed that number twice last season.
"I can begin to guess what this winner is thinking, what he's looking for or what he's not looking for," Senga said."It's a good feeling to be able to do that."
"If it's strong, we're going to see a lot of that," Mendoza said. "It's very exciting."
St.Louis reached Senga with two runs in the third, while New York's defense could have been better.When Victor Scott took a line drive to center on a fastball in the first inning, Luis Robert took one step before hooking the ball that hit him twice.In JJ Wetherholt's next round, Robert's play sent home a cut, and despite Scott in third place, Wetherholt excelled in his position.naked
Senga's biggest mistake tonight happened next, slipping in the area to Ivan Herrera left for a double run.
Aside from a series of consecutive bases on balls in the fifth, Senga went the other way.He continued to tally his streak, recording four strikeouts in the first at-bat and five more in the third.Twice, he hit the side.
"It's a great start to the year," Senga said."This makes me excited for this year."
