Kodai Senga made his third rehab start yesterday — his second with Triple-A Syracuse — and tossed 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball while building up to 67 pitches. Manager Carlos Mendoza told the Mets beat yesterday that Senga’s next steps are “TBD” (X link via MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo), but the righty is on the cusp of a big league return one way or another. At most, Senga would require one more rehab tune-up, though Mendoza’s comments leave the door open for the right-hander’s next outing to come at the major league level. Newsday’s Tim Healey tweeted before Senga’s outing that the Mets want the right-hander to be able to throw 75 to 80 pitches before activating him.
Senga’s looming return is an obvious boon for a Mets rotation that has pitched quite well over the past month. Going back to June 15, Mets starters have a 3.62 ERA that’s tied with Kansas City for seventh in the majors. Veteran lefties Jose Quintana (2.00 ERA) and Sean Manaea (2.05) have been outstanding in the past 30 days, as has southpaw David Peterson (2.33). Luis Severino hasn’t been nearly as sharp but has been the Mets’ best starter on the season overall, sitting at a 3.78 ERA in a team-leading 109 2/3 frames. Top prospect Christian Scott is getting another look in the big leagues as well and thus far has a 4.36 ERA in 43 1/3 innings.
Adding Senga to that mix will both deepen the group and substantially raise its ceiling. The 2023 NL Rookie of the Year runner-up dominated to a 2.98 ERA and 29.1% strikeout rate in 29 starts last season (166 1/3 innings). A healthy Senga would slot into a theoretical postseason rotation for the Mets — likely starting Game 1 if they had the luxury of qualifying early enough to set their playoff rotation in the order of their choosing. Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the Mets are planning to go to a six-man rotation once Senga is ready to return.
The outlook on outfielder Starling Marte isn’t nearly so rosy. The 35-year-old veteran has been out since June 22 due to a bone bruise in his knee, and Mendoza acknowledged just yesterday that Marte’s recovery has been slower than anticipated (X link via DiComo). The Mets are “not sure when he’ll be back,” per Mendoza, who noted that Marte has not yet resumed baseball activities and is not expected to do so in the near future.
Prior to his injury, Marte was in the midst of a strong rebound campaign. He posted a career-worst .248/.301/.324 batting line in 2023 — the second season of a four-year, $78MM contract — but slashed .278/.328/.416 in 66 games/266 plate appearances through the first two-plus months of the current campaign. The seven home runs Marte swatted prior to his current IL trip were two more than the five homers he hit in a larger sample of 86 games and 341 plate appearances last year.
Both Brandon Nimmo and Harrison Bader have been regulars in the outfield, and in Marte’s absence New York has given some extra outfield reps to Jeff McNeil. He’s been joined by Tyrone Taylor, DJ Stewart and Ben Gamel — the latter of whom has primarily been a late-game replacement since coming up from Syracuse (12 plate appearances in nine games).
Depending on how long Marte is expected to miss, adding a bat to that outfield mix could be prudent for a Mets club that has played its way back into Wild Card contention. None of McNeil, Stewart, Taylor or Gamel has been even an average hitter in 2024.
Be that as it may, the Mets remain focused on bullpen help for the time being, per both Sherman and his Post colleague Jon Heyman. The Mets already added one bullpen arm when the effectively purchased veteran righty Phil Maton from the Rays last week, but more moves to address the relief corps will likely be on the horizon, barring a calamitous losing streak that tanks the team’s playoff odds.