QUEENS, NY — New York Mets ace Kodai Senga is dealing with triceps tightness, manager Carlos Mendoza announced on Sunday and will miss the remainder of the regular season.
The 31-year-old right-hander pitched one inning with Triple-A Syracuse on Friday in what was his first rehab start while recovering from a calf injury suffered in late July.
“He felt like he could continue to pitch, but he wanted to play it safe,” Mendoza said. “He’s going to continue to throw… but that’s what we got.”
The manager went on to add that “it’s safe to say, for the regular season, he’s not going to be a player for us.”
The initial hope was that Senga would be able to make a return to the mound during the final week of the regular season, which begins on Tuesday in Atlanta against the Braves. That would allow proper time to ramp him up for postseason usage — though his role as either a starter or ace reliever was unknown.
Now, the Mets are left with continued uncertainty about their star’s availability for the postseason should they get there.
“Hopefully, we’re making those decisions, right?” Mendoza began. “…He’s going to continue to throw. Maybe a live BP? I don’t know if we put him on a mound, but we’re not going to put him in a big-league game until he clears all the steps. It’s hard to tell now.”
Senga had missed the first four months of the season with a shoulder strain. He made his season debut on July 25 against the Braves, but it only lasted five innings before suffering that high-grade calf strain.
“It’s been a hard year for him. He’s worked his tail off. You feel for him,” Mendoza said. “Every time he wants to push it and every time he wants to take the baseball, there’s something. Hopefully, this is nothing serious, but it’s going to set him back a little bit as far as the game competition at the big-league level.”
