QUEENS — The only thing Kodai Senga really knows about New York is that there are a lot of people and “it’s a very exciting place to be.”
The 29-year-old right-hander made his first trip to the Big Apple back in November when he met with Mets brass — paving the way for a five-year, $75 million contract signed earlier this month to complete his jump from the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) to the majors. This, of course, was after getting past manager Buck Showalter’s “intimidating face” and realizing it was nothing more than a facade.
While he’s only really seen Times Square, mid-town Manhattan, and Citi Field — he’s been working out at the ballpark over the last week — Senga is doing his best to assimilate to life in the largest market in the majors on the fly.
He’s already had Mets fans choose his number with the team, 34, which showed him the “burning passion,” they have for their team.
That’s a good start because his story is likely one that will resonate with Mets fans, as well.
Before putting together an impressive 11-year career that included a 2.59 career ERA and four Japan Series titles, he was drafted as an NPB developmental player, which kept him separate from the 70 registered players under team control and made his path to stardom all the more difficult.
“We were drawn to his resilience and work ethic,” Mets general manager Billy Eppler said. “Very few of those players make it to the NPB level and even fewer become stars… He fought his way to become a star and a championship-level pitcher.
“He knows what it takes to win. We’re looking forward to adding a player with that kind of experience to our roster and our pitching staff.”
It took quite a while for Senga to finally be able to make the jump to the United States. over the past decade, he’s tried on multiple occasions to negotiate his way to the majors with Fukuoka, but was denied each time. All the while, Eppler had been scouting him in his previous positions with the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels. The Mets also had kept tabs on him.
He’ll be assuming the No. 3 role of a new-look Mets rotation that now boasts Justin Verlander alongside Max Scherzer at the very top of it following the departure of Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker, and Chris Bassitt. While he admitted that adjusting to the culture of New York and the United States is his biggest challenge, he’s going to have quite the support system in two future Hall of Famers.
“They are legendary pitchers that even every player in Japan would know of,” Senga said through a translator of Verlander and Scherzer. “I’m very excited to learn from those two and be in the clubhouse… Instead of forcing the way I was in Japan over here, I want to absorb everything I can from people here to learn and adjust better.”
“I have a feeling Max and Kodai will spend some time together,” Eppler said. “Max will have some curiosity about how he’s doing some things, too. One thing I noticed about Max last year was that he likes teaching. The guy cares.”
For more on the Mets and Kodai Senga, visit AMNY.com
