It didn't take long for Kodai Senga to endear himself to Mets fans, as he opened up his introductory press conference with the following statement, spoken in English:
"Hi, I'm Kodai Senga of the New York Mets. I'm very happy and excited to be in the Big Apple and join such a great team."
He used a translator for most of the rest of the media briefing, and said the same thing in Japanese right after the intro, but he did give a "Let's go Mets!" to the assembled media.
Senga, who was an ace in Japan the last few seasons, now joins two at the top of the Mets' rotation in Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander – and the addition of the latter had a big influence in sealing the deal for him to come to Queens.
"I really felt that the Mets really showed they wanted me here, and the opportunity to pitch with such great veteran pitchers as well was exciting," Senga said through a translator. "(Scherzer and Verlander) are legendary pitchers that everyone in Japan knows. Every time before I started in Japan, they were the two pitchers I watched on film, and it almost seems surreal they're now my teammates."
Senga will wear No. 34, even though No. 18 (the number usually given to aces in Japan) was available, and said he was "honored and excited to have the fans to choose number 34 for me and I hope to live up to the highest of their expectations."
The righty was a three-time All Star in Japan and helped the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks win five Japan series in his 11 seasons, and now, he's excited to begin anew as an MLB pitcher as he heads into his age-30 season.
"Definitely very excited to learn I had the chance to come over here, and still full of excitement going into the season, as well," he said. "I've been playing in Japan for a long time, wanting to play here, that was my big goal. I want to put up good numbers, but I just want fans to understand and know I'm very blessed to play here and play in the States."
He has heard from a few teammates – Edwin Diaz slid into his Instagram DMs – as well as manager Buck Showalter, and he's also gotten a lot of good advice from a new NL rival: Yu Darvish.
"For the last few years he's given me a lot of good advice," Senga said of Darvish. "Every time I spoke to him and other pitchers as well, it gave me more excitement to come over and pitch in the States."
Now he's here, and he believes Queens is the perfect fit for him to succeed, the same way Masahiro Tanaka did across town years ago with the Yankees.
"More than anything, the team definitely made it clear they want me here, and I can continue to grow and get better here with the people surrounding me," Senga said.
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