Kodai Senga has been about as visible as a ghost over the last two seasons. Saturday in Jupiter, the Mets‘ right-handed starter took the mound in a spring start that was far more normal than paranormal. Facing the St. Louis Cardinals in his first Grapefruit League game of the year, Senga allowed t wo earned runs on three hits and struck out two over 2 2/3 innings. Both runs were solo homers, one by Joshua Baez and one by Miguel Ugueto, but he walked none and his fastball topped out at 98.8 MPH. The two strikeouts came on the slider and forkball, with the ghost fork looking a lot more like it once did than the pitch he was throwing throughout the second half of last season. It’s still too early in his progression to say he’s back, but this outing was a positive indicator that he’s on the right track this spring. “Really good signs,” manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters in Jupiter. “We saw it from the very beginning when we were watching live [bullpens] on the backfield. [The velocity] isn’t something I’ve seen since I’ve been here, on the first day when you’re throwing 94-95, then Day 1 when he’s playing in a real game, he’s 97-98.” Senga has mostly worked out on the backfields this spring as the Mets try to help him get back to where he was in 2023, his first year in North America before injuries cost him significant time in 2024 and 2025. The Mets even talked about trading the 33-year-old veteran of the Nippon Professional Baseball league over the winter, but ultimately he told the club his preference was to remain in Queens — as was his right with a no-trade clause. A finalist for the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 2023, a shoulder injury and a calf strain limited him to only one regular season start in 2024, and a hamstring strain he suffered while covering first base last June landed him on the injured list again. When he returned, he was unable to figure out his mechanics, resulting in inefficient outings and a loss of rhythm. Senga was fantastic before the injury last season. He had a 1.39 ERA through his first 14 starts with a 1.13 WHIP. But over his final eight starts, he gave up 26 earned runs, more than double what he allowed during the first half. With the Mets fighting for a playoff spot last summer and the standings leaving little room for error, the club asked him to go down to Triple-A to work in a less pressure-packed atmosphere. He accepted the demotion. A healthy offseason has paid dividends for Senga. “I think it’s pretty clear when I’m not feeling great the velo doesn’t tick up like that,” Senga said through translator Hiro Fujiwara. “I feel really good, and I’ve felt really good. I’m able to attack all of the things I wanted to work on from last year, and I think that’s flourishing now.” J.J. Wetherholt, a top prospect in the St. Louis organization who had a .931 OPS between Double and Triple-A last season, struck out to lead off the second inning. Senga fell behind 1-2, but threw two tough pitches right in the zone that Wetherholt fouled off to work the count even. The 23-year-old left-handed hitter looked at a slider on the inside corner of the plate for strike 3. With two outs, Baez jumped on a fastball and drove it over the center field fence, but Senga quickly got the next out. In the third inning, he got Chase Davis to swing on a ghost fork before giving up the home run to Ugeuta. It was a forkball right in the zone on two strikes. It was a good hit on a good pitch that did little to diminish a solid outing. “You see how sharp he was,” Mendoza said. “He’s healthy and we can see it now.” Keeping him healthy will be the challenge moving forward. The Mets know what Senga is capable of at his best, but he’s a particular pitcher who needs the conditions to be right and his mechanics to be precise. Senga has always pitched every sixth or seventh day instead of every fifth, but the Mets may not be able to commit to keeping him on a Japanese schedule this season. All of that can be dealt with as the season progresses though. At the moment, he’s steady in his progression and steady in his health. “I know my body is different from where it was three years ago, so I’m not really trying to get back to that,” Senga said through Fujiwara. “It’s a new me and I’m trying to find new mechanics.” ...read more read less