☀️ Good Morning:
On a day Kodai Senga finally returned to the mound for a regular season start, we learned Sean Manaea will need a bit more time before he joins the rotation.
Such is life as a baseball fan in the Year 2025. Every healthy pitch released by one arm somehow pulls an achy joint or tendon on another. The carousel of injuries remains in constant motion.
While there were some more positives last night, there weren’t enough to overcome Sandy Alcantara searching for his first win in 18 months and a few timely hit fastballs off Senga.
When things aren’t going your way, it’s oddly comforting to point at someone who has it worse. The Braves lost again last night, remaining the only winless team in baseball. Their .137 batting average over six games is the lowest of ANY Braves’ span of six games since 1942.
☕️ Grab your coffee for your morning dose of Mets Fix!
There was plenty to like about Senga in this game. He struck out eight hitters, using his patented Ghost Fork to induce nine whiffs and showcase a new SNY graphic with each forkball strikeout.
Take away a mishap by Francisco Lindor (uncharacteristically his second of the night), and Senga might have held the Marlins to two runs over six innings, while maintaining a low pitch count.
Accountability: “Since the day I signed with this team, Lindor has always been there,” Senga said after the game. “Not just me but the whole team. When he makes a mistake, I need to be there to pick him up. It was my fault to make his errors be highlighted because of my poor performance”
To Senga’s point, there were some hiccups. Senga tried to establish his fastball in the first inning without flashing his secondary stuff and the Marlins were ready for it, pouncing aggressively on his four-seamer to put themselves ahead 2–0 on a Kyle Stowers home run.
By the second inning, Senga had a feel for his forkball (admitting it took him some time to get into the right rhythm throwing to Luis Torrens for the first time), mixed with his new sweeper, and suddenly his fastball was a lot harder to hit.
You could see the difference when Stowers came to the plate again in the third and swung through the same pitches he was on in the first inning.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Mets Fix to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.