Kodai Senga has no idea how deep he will go into Game 1 of the NLCS tonight, but he does know that he’s going all-out.
“There's not a number I have in mind. I'm going until they take the ball away from me, and I'm going to go at it 100 percent until then,” Senga said during Saturday’s workout day.
The Japanese right-hander made just one regular-season start between a shoulder issue and a calf issue, and then triceps tightness held him to just one inning in a Triple-A rehab start in late-September that kept him from returning for the Mets’ thrilling final week.
However, he looked strong in his two innings against the Phillies in Game 1 of the NLDS, throwing 31 pitches over that span, and he felt like he could’ve kept going if not for strategic reasons.
“I think when they changed pitchers it had a lot to do with match-ups and where we are in the lineup and stuff like that,” Senga said. “It's more of a mental switch once they take the ball away from me, it turns off, and then I'm done for the game. As long as the switch stays on, I'm good for whenever.”
He'll have to face a Dodgers lineup that he even said ‘has a lot of great hitters,’ so he knows the challenge he’s getting into in what is just his third MLB outing of the yar.
“If I leave a ball over the plate, they're probably going to hammer it. That goes for a lot of hitters around the league, but I just want to approach each hitter one pitch at a time,” Senga said. “If you miss, they're going to hit you, so just try to control what I can control and do my best against each hitter.”
Asked about what this series, with Senga, Shohei Ohtani, and Yoshi Yamamoto means to his home country, he joked, ‘I’m not in Japan, so I’m not sure,’ but he does know what he’s getting into when the first batter he faces is Ohtani, the likely MVP of the National League…even if, again, he coyly said, ‘I don't think any pitcher would reveal how we're going to approach an opposing hitter at this point.”
Whatever comes from Ohtani and beyond, though, Senga is ready…even if that means coming back for Game on just four days rest, something he did just twice in 2023, because he just wants to pitch and help the Mets get as far as they can.
“Again, I’m ready for anything. I don't anticipate getting to 100 pitches (in Game 1), and how many days I have between it, it doesn't matter at this point, we need to win the game. So, whenever they call on me, I'm ready,” Senga said. “I haven’t been able to fight the entire year, so I have tension inside myself. I really need to be able to contribute, continue to contribute, and do my job in the following games.”
Added skipper Carlos Mendoza on Senga’s future: “We want to put our guys in what we felt was the best position to have success, considering where they're at physically, some of the innings, who needs the extra days, who do we want to keep under normal routine. That was the case for Senga. We wanted to keep it as close as possible to his routine. And with some of the other guys, like I said, because of where they're at, we decided to go with Senga in Game 1 – he starts on Sunday and then we'll continue to monitor him the following days. But he should be good to go, and wants what’s best for the team.”