Kodai Senga took a massive step in his recovery from a shoulder injury, as he finally made his first rehab appearance on Wednesday night with the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones.
After successfully getting through his second live BP session this weekend, the Mets determined the right-hander was ready to get back out there in game action.
And Senga certainly looked more than ready to roll as he came out firing from the get go and was spectacular during his 2.2 innings of work against the Hudson Valley Renegades.
“Today went well,” Senga said through a translator. “We have to check off a few more boxes tomorrow and things will clear off more then and the day after as we work towards the next outing but it felt good.”
Things definitely went well for Senga, as the only baserunner against him came via an error on a routine groundball to second, but other than that he struck out six and didn’t allow a walk or hit while throwing 35 pitches.
He sat between 96-97 mph on the fastball, and touched 98 mph in the first inning, while also mixing in his whole arsenal with one of his strikeouts coming on a wicked signature ghost-forkball in the dirt.
It’s been a long and frustrating road back to the mound for Senga, and it’s still going to be a bit longer, but Wednesday’s outing was certainly a stellar step in the right direction.
While the 31-year-old ace is focused on getting back to help the team as soon as possible, he knows he has to take things on a day-by-day basis to ensure his rehab continues going as planned.
“I don’t want to think too far ahead,” he said. “I know I have a couple more milestones to hit along the way so, so I just want to take things one game at a time and one day at a time.”
When he does eventually return, it certainly will be a huge boost for the Mets’ rotation, as Senga pitched to a 2.98 ERA and 1.22 WHIP while striking out 202 batters during his rookie campaign.
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