New York Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga was scratched from his scheduled start on Saturday against the Washington Nationals for what the team has described as tendinitis in his right index finger.
While Senga said that he will be ready for Opening Day, Buck Showalter expressed optimism that he could even be ready to go for his next scheduled spring training start.
“It shouldn’t be very long, I hope,” Showalter said on Sunday. “It’s just precautionary, but we know how that goes sometimes…I think tomorrow is a big day, seeing how the treatments are going with him.”
Senga had made just one start during spring training, which came last week against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing just one run on one hit in two innings of work with a pair of strikeouts.
“I can throw right now,” Senga said through his translator (h/t SNY). “I could make the season right now… There’s been something that’s been lingering for a little while now, so it’s not like I suddenly feel bad or it’s gotten worse or anything. Not any different, same.”
The 30-year-old right-hander was signed to a five-year, $75 million contract this offseason, allowing the star hurler to make the jump from Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan to the majors. While he’ll have to adjust to life in the United States, Senga has also had to work on adapting to a larger baseball, a steeper mound, and the newly-instituted pitch clock.
There is also a stricter workload that the Mets have instituted upon him considering he had only thrown over 150 innings twice in 11 seasons.
New York’s pitching depth is already being called into question despite the regular season not starting for another three weeks. Jose Quintana has a stress fracture in his rib, meaning David Peterson is slated to start the season as the team’s fifth starter.
For more on the Mets and Kodai Senga, visit AMNY.com
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