JUPITER, Fla. — Kodai Senga had been trying ahead to going through Major League hitters for weeks. Once he lastly did, the outcomes have been good however not fairly what he was in search of from his first Grapefruit League begin.
The Mets right-hander who came to visit from Japan this winter had solely confronted hitters on his personal group till Sunday when the Mets confronted the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. His first begin of spring was a B-game on the backfields over the membership’s Clover Park complicated in Port St. Lucie which lacked a number of the competitors he was in search of.
After spending the winter getting used to the Major League ball and the final two weeks adjusting to a steeper mound, the 30-year-old Japanese phenom wished to see how his stuff would play in opposition to a few of baseball’s greatest hitters.
He appeared on the Cardinals lineup and located a couple of of them: Reigning NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and power-hitting prospect Jordan Walker, who hit two house runs 24 hours earlier.
He dealt with these three properly, getting Walker to strike out on his notorious “ghost fork” splitter. But the 2 batters earlier than them he walked. And within the second inning, Tres Barrera hit a house run. The pleasure waned.
“They have a very good lineup and before I got up there, I was very excited to face those guys,” he stated by way of a translator. “But once I was up there, my mind was filled with the pitch clock and I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to.”
Senga completed with a ultimate line of 1 earned run on one hit, one strikeout and two walks. He didn’t suppose he was as sharp as he may very well be.
“Nothing, in particular, was that great,” Senga stated. “But it’s something to work on for next time.”
He positive picked an attention-grabbing 12 months to come back to the Major Leagues. Most Mets pitchers have embraced the clock, even when they’re nonetheless determining methods to regulate to it. The hitters may nonetheless be figuring it out, however the reception has been largely constructive within the Mets’ clubhouse. Each pitcher appears to have a special method to baseball’s latest and most controversial rule.
Justin Verlander needs to get right into a rhythm. Max Scherzer needs to make use of it to play chess with the hitters. The relievers aren’t involved with it, however a couple of are involved with the time it would take to get to the mound and whether or not or not they need to be rising the quantity of cardio they do.
Senga labored with the pitch clock in his spring bullpen classes, his reside batting follow classes and in that simulated sport he performed final week. But as soon as the truth of the sport set in, all the things appeared to hurry up on him.
However, Senga nonetheless felt that the outing was helpful.
“I see five on the pitch clock and I feel very rushed,” he stated. “But in reality, five seconds is quite a long time.”
Manager Buck Showalter couldn’t inform that Senga had any issues with the pitch clock. It wasn’t apparent, however Senga could be important of himself.
Senga isn’t discouraged by the outing and Showalter likes his perspective. The supervisor stated pitchers usually seek for perfection and whereas that drive is rarely a nasty factor, he might afford to go simpler on himself proper now. Coming stateside means a whole lot of modifications, however up to now Senga has embraced all of them.
The affable Senga has been frequenting a restaurant referred to as Sushi Goma in Port St. Lucie and has despatched a number of teammates and staffers there properly. Mark Canha appreciated it a lot he posted about it on Instagram and gave the place a shout-out on an SNY broadcast. Senga’s English is bettering and he’s snug exhibiting his character and humor within the clubhouse. A couple of teammates stated he was a success at Showalter’s notorious group expertise present earlier this week.
On the sphere, he watched Scherzer’s outing in opposition to the Miami Marlins earlier this week, paying shut consideration to how Scherzer was working with the clock and attacking hitters he’ll be going through usually within the NL East.
“Just watching him, I was able to see how great of a pitcher he is,” Senga stated. “It gave me a goal to work towards.”
It’s clear that his stuff performs and if he can command it inside 15-20 seconds, then the Mets might have themselves one other bonafide ace.
“He’s good, man. Good fastball,” Arenado informed St. Louis reporters. “Thought the slider was really good. Obviously, he was a little erratic in that first inning, but he seems like he’s got plus stuff and it seems like he’s going to be really good for them.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com