{"id":152493,"date":"2026-02-12T03:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T03:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/152493\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T03:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T03:55:08","slug":"kodai-senga-out-to-prove-he-can-stay-healthy-be-key-mets-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/152493\/","title":{"rendered":"Kodai Senga out to prove he can stay healthy, be key Mets option"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 Kodai Senga is still taking the approach he can pitch like an ace for the Mets \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/27\/sports\/key-pitching-rotation-duo-has-to-step-up-for-mets-in-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">even as the organization has pushed him toward a back burner<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese past two years have been frustrating and tough mentally,\u201d the right-hander said through his interpreter Wednesday on the reporting date for pitchers and catchers to spring training. \u201cAt some point maybe I started to lose confidence. But in this world, you either do it or you don\u2019t, and I\u2019m here to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Senga entered a free fall in the second half of last season \u2014 after returning from a stint on the injured list with a hamstring strain \u2014 that culminated with him accepting an assignment to Triple-A Syracuse in September. <\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.39699864;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38465165\" width=\"824\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Kodai-Senga-2.jpg\" alt=\"Kodai Senga works on a fielding drill during Mets' spring training practice on Feb. 11, 2026 in Port St. Lucie.\" class=\"wp-image-38465165\"  \/>Kodai Senga works on a fielding drill during Mets\u2019 spring training practice on Feb. 11, 2026 in Port St. Lucie. Corey Sipkin \/ New York Post<\/p>\n<p>He finished with a 3.02 ERA overall, a testament to a strong first half in which he often resembled an ace.<\/p>\n<p>It followed a year in which Senga pitched only once in the 2024 regular season due to various ailments.<\/p>\n<p>Does Senga have to regain the organization\u2019s trust?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore showing the organization anything I think I need to prove it to myself that I can go out there and pitch a full season,\u201d Senga said. \u201cAnd then once I prove it to myself I think then comes the third party, how everybody else sees me, so first I need to be out there for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Mets saw the best of Senga in 2023, when he pitched to a 2.98 ERA over 29 starts with 202 strikeouts over 166 \u00b9\/\u2083 innings. <\/p>\n<p>But he\u2019s started only 23 games since that rookie season.<\/p>\n<p>Freddy Peralta and Nolan McLean have moved ahead of Senga atop the Mets rotation, leaving Senga in a mix that includes Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes and David Peterson.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.44225352;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38465176\" width=\"851\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Kodai-Senga.jpg\" alt=\"Mets starter Kodai Senga throws during a team workout on Feb. 11, 2026 in Port St. Lucie.\" class=\"wp-image-38465176\"  \/>Mets starter Kodai Senga throws during a team workout on Feb. 11, 2026 in Port St. Lucie. Corey Sipkin \/ New York Post<\/p>\n<p>As an indicator of how much his stock has fallen, the Mets this offseason entertained trade proposals for Senga, who still has $30 million remaining on his contract over the next two years. <\/p>\n<p>Senga communicated to club officials that he wanted to remain with the Mets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI control only what I can control,\u201d Senga said. \u201cAt that point I hadn\u2019t gotten traded yet so I just wanted to do whatever I could in the moment and be back out there for the Mets and play hard.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 Kodai Senga is still taking the approach he can pitch like an ace for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[71804,3817,12193,171,173,172,110,20253],"class_list":["post-152493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-kodai-senga","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-mets","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news","tag-sports","tag-spring-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}