The New York Mets have finally seen enough from Kodai Senga.
On Wednesday, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza announced his decision to move the 33-year-old right-hander out of the starting rotation and into the bullpen. This comes just over 12 hours after Senga was knocked around by the Chicago Cubs, allowing seven runs on three hits (two of which were home runs), five walks and a hit-by-pitch in just 3.2 innings.
After Tuesday's game, Mendoza was brutally honest about Senga's poor performance, effectively foreshadowing his decision today.
"David [Stearns] was pretty clear before the game that performance matters here," Mendoza said to the media. "And having outings like this are not going to cut it. I'm pretty sure we're going to have a decision, but that ain't going to do it. We need better. They know that, and we get to a point where you have to go out there and earn it, so that's the bottom line."
While Mendoza's comments apply to a number of underperforming players, they are clearly directed at Senga. Even before his awful start on Tuesday, his season has been a complete disaster.
In seven starts this year, Senga is 0-6 with a ghastly 10.08 ERA, 7.48 FIP, 1.92 WHIP and -0.6 fWAR over 27.2 innings pitched. He's struck out 34 batters, but has also walked 22 and coughed up nine home runs. After pitching six innings in his first start and 5.2 in his second, allowing two runs in each, Senga has failed to pitch five innings over his last five starts and allowed at least three runs in all of them. He additionally missed over a month on the injured list due to lumbar spine inflammation.
The Mets' starting rotation is currently a mess. David Peterson and Sean Manaea have bounced around the rotation and bullpen, with Peterson struggling immensely as a starter with a 7.71 ERA. Freddy Peralta has been a massive disappointment with a 4.83 ERA. Clay Holmes and Christian Scott are currently on the injured list; the loss of Holmes was devastating, as he got off to a fantastic start before suffering a fractured fibula.
Nolan McLean is the only starter the Mets can really depend on at the moment. Even then, McLean has gone through growing pains in his first full MLB season, and expecting him to maintain the Cy Young-caliber form he showed when called up in 2025 was always an unrealistic order.
Even though the Mets will have to decide on who will take Senga's spot in the rotation, this was a move that had to be made. New York is currently in last place in the NL East with a 34-44 record, and are seven games out of a Wild Card spot. They can no longer afford disastrous outings from Senga, even if they're paying him $15 million this season.
